Do bi polar people not like to admit that they are bi polar?

Question

Is it a disease like alcoholism? I have a friend that I keep telling him he's bi polar, and I think he's getting offended. I'm telling him because I want to help him. He gets so depressed so easy then a couple minutes later, he is Mr. Happy Go Lucky. I mean he has EXTREME mood swings....He's going to the dr. to "proove me wrong" next month...I think I'm right...Do you

Answer 1

No, it's very difficult to admit to being bipolar, even after a formal diagnosis. To have an untrained friend say you are bipolar and then say, "Oh, yeah, OK, I have an incurable mental illness," is ludicrous.

Bipolar has a huge stigma - it is a very, very serious mental illness, and you really should understand more about it before you try and diagnose your friends. Particularly, bipolars do NOT have moods that switch in a couple of minutes, we have mood episodes that last days, weeks or months, so your DIY diagnosis may be utter crap. Look up the symptoms on Wikipedia.

Answer 2

Some people will admit their bi-polar while some are still in denial and don`t want to believe or talk about it. No bi-polar is not an addiction where bi-polar is a disease of our mind but we can lead a normal life if a dr preferably a psychiatrist puts us on medication and he may have to regulate the meds several times. Your friend may not have bi-polar. Maybe it is just anxiety and depression but no one wants to hear that they are sick from a friend all the time. Hopefully when he goes to the dr everything will turn out for the best! Good Luck to you and your friend! What I was saying that Alcohol is an addiction and bi-polar is a mental disease that could be caused from unbalanced chemicals from the brain and you can get help and have a pretty normal life if you stay on your medication.

Answer 3

Thing is, people with mood/ personality problems might not know they have a problem. Their behavior is part of their personality, and can seem prefectly ok to them. Some people realize it's a problem, but others can't. People in this situation typically won't seek therapy themselves because they don't recognize they have a problem. It's friends/ family, etc that are the ones that see the problem and try and get the person to seek help.

It's good that he is willing to go in for an evaluation. Only a mental health professional like a psychiatrist/ psychologist can make an actual clinical determination.

I went through a similar situation in college. A girl I knew had mood swings and I had suspected there might be some clinical issues there (bipolar, cyclothymic, etc). I didn't say anything myself, but she eventually came to be because she couldn't figure out why she couldn't keep her friends, significant others, etc. I told her what I thought might be the issue, and suggested she go in for an evaluation. She had the similar "prove me wrong" mindset. She got the diagnosis, and refused to believe it. Went to another doctor, same result. She didn't want to accept that she had a problem that required treatment, so she stopped going to MDs and didn't get any treatment.

Best thing to do is be as supportive as you can to your friend, and hope things work out. However, if your friend does get diagnoses and refuses to accept it/ get treatment... you can try and encourage him to reconsider, but there may come a point where you jhave to back off and let it be. There is only so many times you can give a person the same advice. If that ends up being the case, try to not let yourself get dragged down into it.

Answer 4

i may be going a little off topic here but i think it still is in the vein of the question asked. it is for first and fore most not a disease, it is a condition which the medical field still hasn't determined the cause. they treat it with a few drugs that tries to balance the chemicals in the brain of the individual. people that are bi-polar really don't know if they are are not, they just know that what they
doing at certain times is not right. i am married to one.
and she has her up and downs, thank goodness for prescription
meds. the only way that this person can get better is to help himself, you just have to be there for support,be his angle, he needs you to be the best friend ever.

Answer 5

I agree with the other poster...just announcing you think he's bipolar usually isn't taken as supportive it just comes out as "whoa you're nuts! seek help now!". Also, an intro psych class and a website or two don't make you a doctor. Personally I've had mood swings my entire life...I just never had the lows. I had normal and "Holy crap I've been awake for 5 days straight". I was only diagnosed when I started having problems with anxiety attacks and other anxiety symptoms. If he's not bothered by what symptoms he has and he isn't hurting anyone it's his business whether or not he sees a doctor. And Dolly...your information is flawed. I have never known a bipolar to have hallucinations...and I've known more than my share.

Answer 6

OMG it is hard to admit to me it was like i was saying i was crazy i am not i have a chemical imbalance but society don't see that they just see mental like your going to start foaming at the mouth people really react different to you and then the million of questions comparing you to Dr Jeckle /Dr Hyde then what medicine are you on then everything you do aww your bi- polar that's all you could be crying over a dog or mad cause someone cut you off in traffic but people don't see that they just see a crazy person

Answer 7

First point: Telling someone that they are Bipolar seems more like name calling than like a genuine effort to help.

Second point: Many (if not most) people fear what they don't understand. Mind illnesses are one of the things that many people don't understand.

I have been Bipolar most of my life. I am not ashamed of the way I am. I'm also not stupid. When people find out that someone has a mind illness, they change the way they behave around that person, whether they are aware of it or not. In most cases, I prefer not to discuss my health with other people.

Answer 8

Major mood swings aka manic attacks ...

He has manic depression ... Does he realize the way he is??
If he doesn't he isn't going to find out what he really has. Unless the dr knows what to ask to get the true way your friend is ...

At least he is going, which is a start.
Mood swings are waring on everyone, including himself.

Answer 9

it varies some admit they do and need help and others are in denial just like any other condition, people just don't like to admit something is wrong with them i went through the same thing with my tourettes / just because he has mood swings doesn't me he is bi polar he could just have alot of anxiety and i don't think it's like alcoholism

Answer 10

If he has mood swings he may have bipolar. But it sounds as if he is going from happy to sad very quickly, which indicates rapid cycling bipolar disorder. Look at the website below to find some answers in the Bipolar Symptoms button, then read "Am I Bipolar? It will give you the specific symptoms of bipolar disorder.