Am I bipolar?

Question

My friends think i am. They even looked it up on the internet, and then talked to me about it. I gotta admit my moods and most everything about me is a bit off, and there are people in my family with the same problem, but how do i know if i am? I am almost convinced that i am, but i want other peoples opinions. And if i am, how do i go about approaching my very strict mom about it?

Answer 1

I was born with bipolar.It was passed on.:my father and my brother.It will skip generations sometimes.It is not a good thing.It is not curable.Lithium is the best treatment for me.My lows had to be treated in a hospital.My highs had to be treated in a hospital.Dr's are putting bipolar labels on people who are not.Like it is a new fade.My daughter and my friends daughter were told they were bipolar.I said they were not.More than a year later they were taken off bipolar medicine.Every person born has high moments and low moments.My friend daughter had been raped before.Of cource she had deep depressions and some times she would feel better. Bipolar no.The new drugs for bipolar are very expensive Lithium is $10 a month.Bipolar is a chemical in balance.A physical problem.Much like thyroid or diabetes level adjustments.Man knows more about organs not as much about the brain.For those who are bipolar.You are not crazy.You are not in need of therapy.You need meds from a psychiatrist that can keep you balanced.Don't fight it.You will need meds for life.You can have a normal life.Always remember it is physical. . Some people need therapy.It is a tough world. All bipolar people I have met were very good people.We still have highs and lows like normal people because we are normal God loving people.Don't feel bad about a phychiatrist.They are very good doctors. In fact most are more educated than most of your other doctors.You don't lay on a sofa .This is not therapy.Remember your problem is physical.May God be with you. He has every left me. Mr Pipolar

Answer 2

Hello............. You sound fairly lucid, but if you feel that you do have a problem, go ahead and talk to your mom about it. Strict or not, she will appreciate your honesty. I would suggest that you get as much information about the disorder as you can to show her when you begin discussing it with her. She may be familiar with the illness if there are people in your family with the problem, but if you can actually point out to her what symptoms you think you may have, she will be less likely to be overwhelmed and more likely to take you seriously. You say that your moods and everything about you is "a bit off." Well, that could be said about most of the world's population at one time or another. When my daughter was first diagnosed with bipolar, she was way more than just "a bit off." There is no way that she could have formed sentences like you have, or been clear enough to pose the types of questions you have asked. She was, quite frankly, so ill that she needed to be in a hospital for over a month[the first time] That was over 7 years ago, and even though she has been relapse-free for over two years now, she has needed hospitalization at least a dozen times. Every case is different, of course, but more often than not, the person afflicted will believe that they are just fine, and deny that anything is wrong with them, even though their symptoms are obvious. You have said that you are almost convinced that you are bipolar. Where my daughter was concerned, we had to try to make her believe that she had a problem and fight our way through her denial. She was convinced that she was just fine and it was the rest of us who were crazy. This doesn't sound like you at all. Did the information given you by your friends seem to fit? The internet can be a very useful tool, so I would suggest that you look up the information for yourself, so you can check what the symptoms are and be prepared when you speak to your mom, and eventually to your doctors. Don't be overwhelmed by the incredible amount of information that is out there, because when dealing with this illness, knowledge is power . Learn all that you can about it and don't be afraid to talk to someone. Good luck to you and take care................

Answer 3

I am Bipolar but I don't think anyone can tell you on here if you are or not since they would have to be a Dr who know how your moods were. So I think you should check into getting som couseling to see what they think. I was diagnosed when I was 14. As far talking to your mom about it in the end IF you are Bipolar believe me she will be glad you ask for help in the end! You will see that after being diagnosed and begin taking meds that you are a 100% different person who people will actully be happy to be around.

Answer 4

Bi -polar is alot more common now a days. Seems like more and more ppl are being diagnosed with it, ppl who don't need to be. Whatever ya do, don't look at the net for your diagnoses, ask your family DR. the net is full of misinformed information, if anything it could cause anxiety, seriously. Well, when your lookin on the net pertaining to medical info. tell your mother, no strict mother can be bad enough to NOT want to help her daughters health. Start a diary, document your daily moods for awhile, (if u feel suicidal ever, pls stop dial for help immediately,) once u observe ur diary and YOU think, hey, somethings just not right... take that diary,( at least sum up what u have been like) tell ur DR and he can suggest a professional to help you, and place you on the appropriate meds for you....... good luck to you, I hope the best.

Answer 5

First of all, you need to start keeping a diary of your moods and what was happening in your life during those moods. High stress? Low stress? What were the situations happening in your life when you were feeling those moods? Describe what you were feeling at the time to the best of your ability. Rate your depression/mania level at the time on a scale of 1-10.
Next, get a referral from your family doctor to see a psychiatrist who can evaluate you. There are different categories of Bipolar disease. If you need to be started on medication, please realize that it takes time to find the correct medication and dosage for each patient. I have been on every medication in the book until my current one and I am doing very well on it. If the side effects are too great with one med you can be switched to another. It also takes time for the medications to work-up to 6 weeks or so(but lots work in 2 weeks or less). The important thing is to not give up. You also do not need to feel like a zombie. Mental health has a very unfair stigma in this country even though it is biological in nature, not something you can control by "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps". As a result, many meds have been given a bad rap too. There are so many people around you that are on mental health meds that you don't even know about that you'd be shocked if you knew who they are! Please also know that I sense you are a teenager-teenage brains are not fully developed so your behavior could even be normal for your age. I am concerned that your friends were upset enough about you to research your moods. Make sure you get counseling to help you through these tough times. Sometimes just talking things out with someone impartial is enough to help you see your way through a problem. Remember too, that if you have suicidal thoughts you need to be hospitalized immediately. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem and the devastation of the people left behind is horrible. Your mother needs to know that you are having problems and that your friends are concerned about your behavior. Trust me, your mother loves you and only wants the best for you--who knows, maybe she has noticed symptoms too but wasn't sure how to bring it up with you. If you have a strong family history that's even more reason to be checked out. What do you have to lose-you find out that you're a normal teenager? Good luck and talk to your mom! We moms love our children and will do anything for you!!!

Answer 6

I guess I would start by looking up the official symptoms, and see for yourself what you think.

If you are indeed full-on bipolar ( there are degrees of it ) you would probably be noticing some problems from the mania componant of the thing ?? All sorts of things you may have done, that at other times you would rarely think about doing ??

You might want to check out these links for more to think about ?

http://www.bipolarsupport.org/

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home

If you can come to your folks with some of the information you find.....that might help ?? Sometimes when they won't believe you...they will believe some kind of a big authority ??

Good luck with your efforts,

Bob J.

Answer 7

I am bipolar. Tell me what types of moods you are going through and I can tell you if it sounds like bipolar. Or, go to psycheducation.org. You can find a lot of answers to your questions on this site. Eitherway, you need to see a doctor, preferably a psychiatrist that can diagnose your problem. If your moods go from really depressed to feeling like you can do anything, like your sailing on top of the world and back down to depressed and not able to get out of bed or you cry all the time or you can't bring yourself to do anything at all, then I would suggest you find a doctor as soon as possible.

Best Wishes,
A

Answer 8

I am bipolar type II, you need to look at your age and mood swings and are you doing several things that are noted for bipolar. Most onset is during the teen years, but can be earlier or latter in life. Biggest thing is to do the research and the talk to a trained professional you can TRUST. check out these sites.

Answer 9

read up about bipolar disorder. its best to make a regular journal of how you feel to see if there is a pattern that forming.

i'm not a doctor or anyone with credentials on the matter. but if you are in school, you can approach your guidance counselor about it. Back when i was in school, i had many problems with i could not discuss with my parents or even my friends. guidance was great help.

of course, you could to a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Just remember that they each treat this condition differently. psychiatrists will basically drug you up and hope it goes away. psychologist think you can reason your way to health.

all the best to you.

Answer 10

One ask your mom if she'd rather lose you to a suicide or allow you to get evaluated and treated. WHY? Because among those wtih Bi-polar, suicide occurs more often then in many other mental disorders.

Be careful about self diagnosis or having friends diagnose you. WHY? Among teens, the symptoms of normal teen moods, especially if the person has gone through a great loss in the resent year or has some major family issues. Also Bi-polar is more common in males then females and as a teen it's less common.

Ask your mom to take you to an adolescent Psychologist as they are best at diagnosing problems in teens and won't just run to give you a pill without first making sure what's wrong with you. Make sure you don't get an older one who isn't up to date on current Psychological issues adn understanding of those issues. One in their fourties will have experience, but still be in touch. Stay away from Psychiatrists as your counselor, they tend to use too many drugs and often will not take the time to fully evaluate the individual. If you need medication the Psychologist will have a Psychiatrist he/she will work with to decide what medication you need.

Do not just go by what peole say the symptoms are. Why, because any drugs you are using could be the cause. Hormone problems, injuries and disease can all produce the same symptoms of depression and/or mania. Getting to a medical doctor who'll rule out all causes for your symptoms is the best way to go, then seeing a psychologist if a physical cause isn't found.

If you are having lots of problems and you fear you are in crisis, you can always look up in the phone book, in the front section, under Suicide, the local Crisis line. You can tell them what is going on, what people are saying. They can have a Crisis worker trained to evaluate you talk to you about your symptoms. If they feel you are bi-polar or having another mental health issues, they will talk to your parents and tell them you need to be seen and if your mother refuses they can make her allow you to get the help you need.

Mis-diagnosis in teens and females is common, so don't just go by someone else saying they are Bi-polar. Ton's of people say I'm bi-polar because I talk so fast. I do have a mental disorder, one that does not require meds and isn't bi-polar. People just think it because I do talk fast.

You need to talk with someone who can really evaluate all your symptoms, even those symptoms you may not be aware of, but that they can find out about by asking you.

If your mom will not help you, by law you can go to a County Mental Health Center and ask to see the on call Crisis Worker and they have to see you and speak with you, even if you're parents refuse, especially if you are feeling like harming yourself and or others. Just look them up in the phone book, then show up there and say you need to see their on call crisis worker.

I WISH YOU THE BEST!