These often include gambling and compulsive sexuality in men, or compulsive buying and binge eating in women.In addition to sensation-related disorders, cyclothymia has also been associated with atypical depression. In one study, a connection was found between interpersonal sensitivity, mood reactivity (i.e., responding to actual or potential positive events with brighter mood), and cyclothymic mood swings, all of which are symptoms of atypical depression. Cyclothymia also tends to occur in conjunction with separation anxiety, where a person has anxiety as a result of separation from a caregiver, friend, or loved one. Other issues that tend to co-occur with cyclothymia include social anxiety, fear of rejection and a tendency toward hostility to those connected with past pain and rejection. People with cyclothymia tend to seek intense interpersonal relationships when in a hypomanic state and isolation when in a depressed state. This generally leads to short, tumultuous relationships. Causes
The cause is unknown. Risk factors include a family history of bipolar disorder.First-degree relatives of people with cyclothymia have major depressive disorder, bipolar I disorder, and bipolar II disorder more often than the general population. Substance-related disorders also may be at a higher risk within the family. First-degree relatives of a bipolar I individuals may have a higher risk of cyclothymic disorder than the general population. Diagnosis
Cyclothymia is classified in DSM-5 as a subtype of bipolar disorder. The criteria are:
Periods of elevated mood and depressive symptoms for at least half the time during the last two years for adults and one year for children and teenagers.
Periods of stable moods last only two months at most. Symptoms create significant problems in one or more areas of life. Symptoms do not meet the criteria for bipolar disorder, major depression, or another mental disorder. Symptoms are not caused by substance use or a medical condition.The DSM-5 criteria for cyclothymia are restrictive according to some researchers. This affects the diagnosis of cyclothymia because fewer people get diagnosed than potentially could. This means that a person who has some symptoms of the disorder might not be able to get treatment because they do not meet all of the necessary criteria described in DSM-5. Furthermore, it also leads to more attention being placed on depression and other bipolar-spectrum disorders because if a person does not meet all the criteria for cyclothymia they are often given a depression or bipolar spectrum diagnosis. Improper diagnosis may lead some people with cyclothymia to be treated for a comorbid disorder rather than having their cyclothymic tendencies addressed.Cyclothymia is often not recognized by the affected individual or medical professionals due to its ostensibly mild symptoms. In addition, it is difficult to identify and classify. Due to disagreement and misconceptions among health and mental health professionals, cyclothymia is often diagnosed as "bipolar not otherwise specified". Cyclothymia is also often confused with borderline personality disorder due to their similar symptoms, especially in older adolescents and young adults.Most people with the disorder present in a depressive state, not realizing that their hypomanic states are abnormal.