Am I Bipolar?

you could have Bipolar Disorder, but before convincing yourself that you have a mental illness, you should consider a full medical exam first, as some medical condtions can mimic mental illness. if medical exam, is negative, you may want to meet with a psychologist or other trained professional for a proper diagnosis of your condition.

 

I'm not a pro on psychiatric conditions but my understanding of bipolarity is that the mood swings are typically not that fast. Bipolars tend to have two distinct phases that alternate and tend to last from weeks to months. In the "mania" phase the person is super active and seems to have endless supply of energy. Often the hours the patients sleep tend to be reduced considerably. Mood is high and overtly optimistic. In the depressive phase the person falls into deep depression that is virtually the opposite of the mania phase.

Only a trained psychiatric can diagnose bipolar disorder. It's treated with medication and therapy. However, based on what you told me it is unlikely to be bipolarity. However, if your mood alters in that way it is definitely a good reason to go to talk either to a GP or a psychologist.

 

You live in the Netherlands. It's practically a welfare state so at least getting a diagnosis should be cheap if not free. You can go to talk to a just to a normal doctor and get a referral to a specialist.

 

You might have Bipolar Disorder. I recommend taking an online test, such as this one: Bipolar Self-Test - Self-test - Bipolar disorder - Black Dog Institute

If it is not Bipolar Disorder, then it might be another mental illness. And if it is not that, either, then it may be that you are still mentally ill with mood swings, but you don't fall under any specific label.
Focus on your feelings and let them guide you, don't let names guide you. They might help, but that's only later if you have a diagnosis.

Best of luck

 

I have days like this too!!! I can be happy for one day then weirdly depressed for a few... then it repeats...
Definitely go to a professional and have an examination and check it out. All the best

 

I think you are. Good luck!

 

I wish I could go sometimes...but finding one here (who also speaks English and understands about being LGBT is hard). Thankfully I found this site and it has helped in a way

 

I'm bipolar, and I agree with Euler. The phases do not necessarily alternate so rapidly. Not for me, anyway. My different phases typically last for anything from a few days, to weeks. I no longer know what my "normal" state is. I just know that I feel indifferent to certain things at certain times. Like, some days I will laugh at the silliest things, and other days it's like I'm numb. I know I should laugh, but I give a slight smile at most, or I fake-laugh just to fit in a little better. I hope that you're not bipolar, but if you are, please, please, please use medications. Some people will tell you that you'll be fine without meds, but let me tell you, without my meds, I would've either been in a mental asylum permanently, or dead...

I also want to add, online tests aren't accurate, and should not be used as a diagnosis. If you really want to find out whether you're bipolar, you need to get tested by a mental health professional (psychiatrist).

Good luck, I hope you get to the bottom of these mood swings.

 

You're welcome

 

No, it doesn't sound like you do. It sounds more like depression but regardless, you should seek a therapist and tell them everything you're telling us because it's not really a good thing to self diagnose. Many people get the wrong diagnosis.. plus, you don't really want to have Bipolar disorder.

People who are Bipolar don't suddenly go into an anti-social phase, they're just simply anti-social. There are times where they become a little more social than usual but that's usually when they're feeling better. Someone with Bipolar does have triggers but each trigger is specific to that person, it doesn't happen randomly with random things that don't trigger them later on. So if one had a dislike for repetitiveness, repetitiveness would always trigger them into an episode, regardless if they show it or not. With this said, there's a lot more to Bipolar than just that.

If you'd like, you could read up on it.. but as I said, don't self-diagnose yourself. I know it's easier to get a quick solution, but it's better to have the right answer as opposed to a wrong answer. See, for example.. if you have depression as opposed to Bipolar, you could get that fixed within time. Bipolar is incurable and you'll have to carry that on for the rest of your life, as well as medication and therapy etc. etc. You don't want to say you have something when you don't really know.. does that make sense?

 

CyanChachki, you wrote a very good reply :eusa_clap

R M, this is not meant to be used as a way of self-diagnosing, but I've learned a few things that I haven't already known about my "condition" from this Bipolar Disorder Symptoms page. I tried to educate myself as much as possible about Bipolar Disorder, and during one of my online searches, I stumbled upon that page, and though I knew about the majority of the symptoms described there due to personal experience, I still learned one or two new things, that I never thought were also due to being bipolar. I thought that you - and others - will benefit from reading through it all. It would give you a better idea of what bipolar sufferers go through.

If your mood swings persist, it would be best to speak to a mental health professional about it. You won't have to mention that you suspect you might be bipolar, because he/she will pick up on it and consider testing you for it without you saying anything. Good luck with all the moods. It can really be a pain in the backside sometimes... :eusa_doh: