Search

Background: Bipolar disorders are overrepresented in current works. Spectrum, endophenotypes, ratings (of bipolarity) are summoned to try to understand misleading clinical cases. Method: How can we consider the foundations of this approach, actually quite distant from the classical notion of "circularity", which itself is prototypical of the diachronic evolution of the disorders? Is it a fashion trend or a change in perspective supported by clinical data?. Results: Not claiming an unequivocal answer, we question the current positioning of bipolar disorders in the psychiatric nosography, based on the hypothesis of an "Unitarian" perspective for mood disorders. Discussion: Indeed, mood disorders are often discribed through the accompanying symptomatology, especially delusional manifestations. The latter are coined "psychotic features", being de-facto bound within an unicist conception of mood disorders. Conclusion: Thus we would be facing what would be "harmony in mood fluctuations" while dysharmony would describe clinical situations formely considered in the field of psychosis. This stance questions the impact of the concept of "unity" in the evolution of clinical classifications, with the wish for harmony being quite distant from the displacement effects of the affects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]