text: what is bi-polar? and what is "ocd"? bipolar disorder, often referred to colloquially as manic depression, is a diagnosis describing low (clinically depressed) and high (manic or hypomanic) mood swings significantly broad enough to interfere with an individual's ability to function on a daily basis. such mood disorders are thought to affect millions of people.  obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd) is a psychiatric disorder, specifically, an anxiety disorder. ocd is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive drive to perform a particular task or set of tasks, compulsions commonly termed rituals.  ocd should also not be confused with ocpd, the similarly named but notably different obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which psychiatric guidelines define as a personality characteristic rather than an anxiety disorder.