Hi EC, Is it normal for a 16 year old guy to have random mood swings frequently? Like, most of the time I feel like I don't have a mood, when people ask how I am my answer is almost always "I'm fine," I usually feel very apathetic, but probably more on the sad side. Then, sometimes I get depressed, it's not that bad though, I just get miserable thoughts like how my life is never going to get any better, that I'm going nowhere in life and am worthless, which isn't really that bad, I never feel suicidal or anything unless I've been drinking, it's usually mainly pessimism and extreme lethargy, like I'll just not even have the energy to eat, will just be on my computer literally all day. Thing is though, not sure if that's depression or not because I genuinely don't feel hungry, and it's not an eating disorder because I want to gain some weight. Then, on the other hand I suddenly get so happy randomly... Like it's not just mild happiness, it's extreme happiness. Like just 20 minutes ago I was over the moon, thinking how my life is so great, having very very optimistic thoughts and a "I don't give a fuck" about negative thoughts, just generally being so happy. I tend to get this way every now and then, but it doesn't seem to last that long. I also get very irritable sometimes, like when people just message me on steam with "hi" or something my immediate thought is "fuck off," in that mood everything annoys me so much even though they've done nothing wrong at all. I just get in a really isolated mood and just want to be alone. I'm just not sure if this is normal teenage hormones or something. My plan was to wait till I'm 17 (about 1 month, the age you can see a doctor alone in the UK) then see if they think I need antidepressants, but I told my sister an (admittedly undersold) version of all this, and she told me she doesn't think I need anything. She used to live with my other sister who does have some condition, and said she used to just lock herself in her room in pitch black and cry, and mine isn't as bad as that. Saying that though, my sister (with the condition) said that it wasn't that bad, and started getting worse around 17/18, so I guess she was much better at some point. I don't know though. Do I sound like I might need help or do I just have to suck it up and deal with it?
Don't start comparing anything you've got with other peoples ways of handling depression, it hits us all differently! If you're not comfortable going to the doctors but you think it might be more than hormones, best you can do is try and work out if there is anything in particular that causes the mood changes. Also, if there is anything specific that you feel during your 'low' mood periods. Even if it's something that seems insignificant, if it keeps coming back when you feel low then let us know and we can think about it! Just remember that if it isn't hormones, anti-depressants can help but they won't cure it!
I think you should definitely go to a psychologist and see what they have to say. I don't think I remember ever having such up and down feelings when I was your age, or any of my friends. I've known a few people who are bipolar that sound similar to you, not to scare you or anything. And I've noticed with people that are close to me that they often think I don't need any medications for my issues too, even though I think they would also help me. There is definitely still a stigma on mental disorders.
I am fine going to the doctors, the issue is that I'm not sure if I should or not, because my sister told me she thinks I'm fine, and I remember one drunken night in April where I basically broke down right in-front of her I'm just not even sure if what I'm feeling is normal. I've always thought it's likely I have bipolar or something similar, but I'm usually in such an apathetic mood I'm just like "eh... who cares," then just get on with the day. Well, the thing is I'm pretty emotionally repressed, I'm not actively aware of why I'm sad when I'm sad, apart from when I've been drinking, I don't know I guess it removes the block or something, there's been quite a few times I've been near passed out on the floor bawling my eyes out about a particular thing, which is odd again because I just literally cant cry sober, I've tried so many times because I feel it would relieve some of the sadness, but no matter what I cant. The max I can do is watery eyes, and I can only get that when it's about someone else, I cant seem to get emotional about my own issues. Thing is, I'm not sure how telling people would help with my issues. I'm hoping I just have like a serotonin shortage in my brain or something that can be fixed with pills. I know that's unlikely and that it'd require work, but I feel meds would at least stop me holding back my issues and let me actually accept and talk about them. I've thought I might be for a while, but I thought that people with bipolar are generally extremely depressed when they're low, like suicidal type depressed, I only get like that very very rarely, usually my depression is more apathy and emptiness.
I'm not a professional or anything (fingers crossed for someday) but what your describing sounds quite a lot like bipolar. The thing about bipolar is that it is defined by two separate moods 'depression' and 'mania'. There are many, many, many variations of the two moods. Whether or not you feel suicidal is a little bit irrelevant, suicide (or even suicidal thoughts sometimes) is a tragic effect not a symptom. Apathy and emptiness certainly point to depression in my book, and your happy times seem quite a lot like some less severe forms of mania. That's the thing about minds, every one of them works in a slightly different way. But like I said, I'm no professional, and I could be completely wrong. You should definitely see a doctor when you can. Good luck.
Yeah, doctors is good. They will make you tell them a bit about how your feeling and maybe go for why.
If you believe you need a doctor then go. I would suggest psychologist better than a psychiatrist because at least in my country the latter have a tendency to give you pills without reason and it is a big deal to stop them. If a psychologist say you need psychiatrist then ok. I also want to say that i also feel like what you described since about your age. for people who i don't care i just say "I'm fine" but when I am down what helps is talks with friends. (certain other friend who I really love, tend to make me go from happy to sad.) So my solution for me is staying alone and talk to no one or talk to certain friends that make me feel better by discussing stupid and silly things. It depends what option is available.... hehehe
You're not bipolar, at least not from anything you've described. Nearly every 16 year old has some pretty intense mood swings. It's a byproduct of hormones that are expressing during adolescence and puberty and in most cases is pretty normal. One of the problems we've run into in recent years is that people have this idea that anything remotely out of the norm is something that needs to be addressed, that we need a drug or something, and that's led to a horrendous level of overprescription of drugs, particularly antidepressants and other mood-altering drugs. Now... if the extreme lows are consistently lasting more than, say, a day or two at a time, and if it's ever getting to the point you're considering any sort of self harm, that's a different story and it does make sense to get it checked out. I agree that a psychologist is a better choice than a psychiatrist or general practice MD, because you're much more likely to come away with a prescription if you go to a doctor. If you want a quick-and easy solution, you might talk to your guidance counselor or social worker at school and get their input. But more than likely, it's just a normal part of adolescence and nothing to worry about.
Thanks for the reply Chip, the extreme lows do last a while, but they don't occur that often. The general depression is pretty constant though, about 5/7 days a week I'll be very apathetic, lethargic and sad/pessimistic. I have been brought to self harming before but I haven't done it in ages, it's usually only when everything piles on I can usually get by. I'm no longer in school so unfortunately I cant do that. Okay, thank you.
it's not really normal for us to have stress and anger because you can loose weight plus loosing muscles so you need to be careful how you feel
