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ultramar · Apr 03, 2013, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebelljar12

I was diagnosed as Bipolar II after my first manic episode.

Before that, for nearly 10 years, It was though of as depression with some anxiety in my early college years.

After looking deeper into my irritability, I have discussed with my doctors that I think not being able to concentrate or remember things causes a lot of my anger.

I am now thinking it may be a mixed episode, but its probably hard to tell with bipolar II.

I think shopping sprees (or the desire to do so) have become so closely associated with mania, even in society in general, that sometimes we need to remind ourselves that all kinds of people go on shopping sprees for any number of reasons (including, I suspect, people with Bipolar Disorder, but not in the midst of an episode). Maybe one of several ways to try to figure out if you're in an episode is to think about if there's any particular reason, internal/specific to you, that you want to do the shopping, Craig's List, etc., aside from the desire just coming out of nowhere. I think shopping can be a way to self-soothe when we're feeling depressed or just really crappy.

Regardless, you're obviously struggling a lot. I was happy/encouraged to read about how much you've improved, the strides you've taken over the years -congratulations! I'll hope for you that this is a 'blip' (albeit a very painful one) and you will get back on the road forward you had been on before. Best of luck!