It is not out of conceptual fetishism that the term “manic-depressive psychosis” is preferable to “bipolar disorder.” Firstly, the bipolar mode is the normal structural state and is not an illness in itself. Secondly, the term “bipolar” does not distinguish between neurosis and psychosis, and as a consequence, many patients with mood swings may be prescribed antipsychotic medications. In addition, the term “bipolar” ignores the subjectivity that governs changes in mood. This discussion is useful to psychoanalysts since it can demonstrate that melancholy can indeed be a kind of psychosis.