How do I tell if I am bi-polar?

Question

I have felt like i have some emotional problems since i was really young...but i never knew what it was, now, i truly feel like i am bipolar, but need to ask someone who knows.

Answer 1

My first suggestion would be to visit a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist that specializes in mood disorders.

I am Bipolar and I've been under the care of a Psychopharmocologist who specializes in mood disorders and a CBT Specialist as well. In addition, I've spent the last 6 months educating myself on the disorder, treatment and drugs. I also attend group therapy twice a week in a clinical CBT group and also attend a BPD support group.

Before I started getting treatment, I was living a life full of rapid cycling (vast change in moods, can be hourly/daily/weekly) high risk behavior and never really knew who the real me was. So you can say I was having an identity crisis and was suffering from bipolar depression.

Since being treated, I've been able to manage my condition and live a very productive and healthy lifestyle.

It's difficult to self diagnose, but if you're looking for an opinion, I would suggest visiting sites with good information on mood disorders and perhaps some discussion boards.

I would also be happy to help if you want to send me an email.

Here are some helpful sites
http://www.dbsalliance.org/info/aboutmood.html
http://dbsa.invisionzone.com/index.php?showforum=6
http://www.crazymeds.org/
http://www.crazymeds.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=bipolarquestions

Good luck

Answer 2

Read the follwing, print out the symptoms and note the ones you really, really think apply. You are potentially signing up to the stigma of a mental illness and a lifetime of expensive, dangerous drugs. If you're still convinced, go to your doc who may refer you to a psychiatrist.

OK, so it's a mood disorder and a serious mental illness. It has a strong genetic component, but appears to be triggered environmentally. There are no diagnostic tests for it, just psychiatric evaluation. Most sufferers are not diagnosed until middle age, and it takes an average of around 8-10 years to get a correct diagnosis. Historically, figures suggested it affects about 0.8% of the population at some point, which makes it about half as common as schizophrenia. In recent years, bipolar disorder has become an 'in' diagnosis, and many more people are being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. As with ADHD, this fad may well pass with time, although for the moment many celebrities appear to be 'popularising' it.

It is characterised by episodes of severe clinical depression and mania or hypomania (for definitions of those, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_diagnostic_criteria_for_bipolar_disorder ). The extreme end of mania often turns into psychosis, complete with hallucinations and delusions. During manic phases, the person's judgement and perception of reality is severely compromised, leading to risky actions with potentially damaging consequences (financially, sexually and relationship-wise). Untreated, episodes generally worsen over time due to an effect known as kindling. Untreated Bipolar sufferers are at a very high risk of suicide: 20-25% attempt it, and 15% succeed.

The cycles in bipolar disorder are much longer than people generally believe. Anyone whose mood changes from minute to minute is very unlikely to be bipolar. Bipolar 1 is characterised by mood episodes lasting many months, while Bipolar 2 has episodes in the region of weeks to months. Rapid and ultra-rapid cycling bipolar disorder is rare, and cycles last days to weeks.

There are many drugs available to treat the symptoms of bipolar (there is no cure). These are either anti-convulsants or anti-psychotics (personally I take both), and the most well known of these is Lithium. Most patients will go through a number of different drugs before finding one that works for them.

Answer 3

bi polar, is when one minute you feel so depressed that you want to die and cant get out of bed, and then sometimes your so happy and energetic that you cant make a rational decision, and can end up putting youself in danger.

Answer 4

If you feel that you are having some emotional issues, you should go to see a doctor and have some test run, then you should start going to church if you do not already.

Answer 5

1st of all u need to talk with a professional for awile and let them make a diagnosis

Answer 6

Are you happy one moment, then sad the next, then happy again? :) :( :)