|
Oct 25, 2013, 09:21 PM
|
|
|
|
Member Since: Mar 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 1,486
|
|
I think daily, weekly mood swings are, regardless, something to talk over with your pdoc. What has he/she said about this? Have they given any explanation, have they talked about goals for less frequent cycling? Has anyone broached the subject of BPD traits?
It seems that pdocs can be pretty cagey sometimes, and unfortunately it's the patient in many cases who has to bring up questions and concerns about their experiences/symptoms in order to have a discussion about it.
I've said this a lot, I know  , but conceptually anyway, I see a difference between 'mood swings' (maybe not so much bipolar) and 'mood episodes' (maybe bipolar). Episodes are tenacious, they grab hold of you and won't let go until it's gone through its course. This, I think, is why it tends to take so long to pull out of them (i.e. a couple weeks, a few weeks, whatever it may be). Because if you're hypo/manic, something could happen or someone says or does something that might usually get you down/make you sad/upset but your hypo/mania continues on, like a freight train, nonetheless. You likely won't 'snap out of' a depression, because something nice happens, someone says something or does something that makes you feel good. Despite this, if anything, it will continue.
In other words, 'moods' can change at the drop of a hat (potentially), 'episodes' latch on and don't let go until they've run their course, and this can take time.
Mixed episodes are a tough one. I have yet to read a description of them that helps to differentiate them, for me, from so many other things; it's confusing. Most articles I read attribute them solely to Bipolar I, though I did read somewhere that it can appear in Bipolar II.
Perhaps the difference lies in 'triggers:' if your moods are all over the place (happy, sad, irritable, angry) because you're constantly being triggered by what's going on around you (and within you) then it's possible that these mood swings are being caused by these triggers, not a 'mood episode' (mixed or otherwise).
I really think the most important thing is to talk to your pdoc: share with him how often this is happening, what it feels like to you, what is triggering them (often we have to dig to figure that out, because it might not be immediately obvious, though I think therapy can be really helpful here).
Best of luck.
|