How can i tell if i'm bipolar?

Question

Well my mom thinks that me and my dad are bipolar bcuz we can be REAL moody.(i dont want 2 go 2 da Dr. unless i know for sure) Ok here are some details:
I get mad REAL easy
I can be the shiest person......other times Im crazy while other times i'm a B****
I can get real sentimental sometimes
I fight w/my family a lot
I've had thoughts of suicide
I feel depressed sometimes
I sleep a LOT
I get real crabby sometimes
and there's more.................

I feel like i don't fit in and i'm one person at school.......but im a different person at home and i feel that nobody understands me and everything i do is wrong and that i can never do anything right and my life sucks @$$ ive had thoughts of suicide since i was in 5th grade but i never really had the guts to. sometimes i just want 2 explode but i can never let my feelings out to anyone bcuz my parents n friends will prob. think i'm on crack or that im weird

how can i tell?my mood swings happen a lot and change in seconds

Answer 1

I'm 38. Bipolar.

Do you ever just not fit in? Do you ever find yourself creating tiny fantisies about "what's really going on"... which altho' you don't neccesarily believe... become imagries that are important to you in how you view yourself?

Do you spend one week being one person, and then another week being another person... and YOU can see how they are both the same person but for all the world everyone else tells you it's like you're too people?

Hating yourself + A deep realization of your own specialness. Wondering why others can't see in you what you see.

Do you KNOW... beyond a shadow of a doubt... truths... which make you HAPPY? And then when at a later time you doubt those truths... the fact that you might be wrong becomes THE reason you're so depressed and hate yourself?

I can tell you... drugs won't help.

Doctors won't help.

You just have to surf it... like a wave.

Answer 2

Family members are too personally involved in an individual's personal life to make major arm-chair psychiatric diagnosis' such as bipolar affective disorder. Bipolar disorder is not as common as most people believe and even trained medical professionals have a hard time in properly recognizing it and treating it. The best way to begin is by having a psychological assessment by a licensed professional who will ask you a variety of different questions on different subjects. You can go to your regular family doctor and get a referral to where you can be assessed. There is no harm in checking it out. It could be a physical condition that contributes to your moods; they consider all these things. And don't feel there is a certain "right" or "wrong" way to respond to a doctor's questions. Just be yourself and answer as you truly feel. Personally, I found that I had to consider everything when I ran into emotional trouble: my own feelings about my moods and whether I should seek help or not, my mom's opinion about what she felt was different or unusual in my behaviors, my husband's view of me, and finally going to more than one doctor to get different opinions and diagnosis and then deciding what was best for me. Everybody's different and it's not an easy thing to have to examine one's own self, but if it's causing some friction at home and work or school then it's worth it to find out what's going on. You never know if something could be a lot better if you don't check it out with an open mind. Good luck to you. At least you even thought of asking this question--I used to refuse to even consider anyone else's thoughts.

Answer 3

ok that one person is wrong. you CAN tell whether you have bipolar or not. there is a book i think its called a survival guide to bipolar or something like that. I suggest that you go see a doctor. i suggest Lithium be one of the medications that you take. That seems to work a lot better than the other medication.

I have lived with 4 bipolars and now only 2 so i nkow what im talking about lol. sleeping alot would have to do with something that's added with depression. usually a bipolar is despresseda lot. find a good psychiatrist and counselor.

Answer 4

Bipolar is hard to dignose, even for a professional, because it's symtoms mimic other disorders. The best way I can tell you about what Bipolar is like is to tell you this...you get happy and really excited...for no apparent reason, or you are sad and depressed at time...for no apparent reason. You can switch from one to the other very fast or very slow...this is called cycling, or you could be manic for several days at a time and stay up for two or three days, or be depressive and sleep alot. To be Bipolar you shift both ways. It sounds like to me that you may have a mood disorder, or a personality disorder, rather than bipolar, but I am not a professional. See the doctor, find out what it is, and take some anger management classes, it sounds dorky but it really help cope with the bad days.

Answer 5

I'll just start by saying that Yahoo! Answers is a really stupid place to go for psychological/psychiatric/medical advice. That being said, I'll put my two cents in anyway. If those are your main symptoms, you might just be a spoiled teenager? Alot of those things you mentioned are really common. You go to a doctor to get diagnosed; you don't self-diagnose and then go to the doctor. If I were you, I would tell my mom that I wanted to see a counsellor rather than jump into seeing a psychiatrist because a counsellor or psychologist might be better to tell you if you might just need to adjust your attitudes and behavior, and then refer you to a shrink if they think you need one. You definetly don't want to get on meds for bipolar if you aren't bipolar. I know it's chic and emo to have to take medication for chemical imbalances, but I'm telling you from experience that if you get misdiagnosed as bipolar and you aren't really, you will regret it YEARS down the road. Avoid meds if at all possible. If you need help, see someone who's interested in talking with you about your issues rather than just giving you a pill and a label.

Answer 6

That's for sure you're not bipolar from the symptoms you gave...I think you're just an "extrem" person meaning nothing's grey: everything is black or white. You should see a doctor to know exactly what's going on.

Answer 7

There's no possible way for you diagnose yourself. You will have to go to a doctor who can better determine if you are bi-polar.

FYI, my mother is schizophrenic and has been my whole life. I am very well-versed in mental illnesses but even *I* wouldn't dare diagnose myself (or anyone else) with a mental illness.

While you're waiting to get to a doctor, you can also research mental illnesses on the web. I believe one of the best websites is http://www.nami.org (National Alliance for Mental Illness).

Good luck.

Answer 8

Bipolar is also chronic depression... you should go to a doctor, I have an aunt who is living with it, she just ended up in jail because she started taking drugs to try to make herself happier... all because she was in denial about having bipolar and wouldn't go to a doctor.

Answer 9

Diagnosis is made only by taking careful note of symptoms, including their severity, length, and frequency. The most telling symptoms include severe mood swings (going from extreme highs to extreme lows) that don't follow a set pattern.

Check out the link

Answer 10

these items don't mean you are bi-polar , but it does sound like you need the help of a professional,and yes you may be bi-polar only a Dr can make that call -- by the way i've been bi-polar for 13 years now,