It's taken me awhile, but I've learned a bit about how to distinguish BP vs. situational moods. The ones that have an obvious trigger, such as the depression I experienced when my husband was diagnosed with cancer, I attribute to this life event; while the ones that come out of NOWHERE tend to be bipolar-related.

That's not to say that a situational issue doesn't develop into a mood episode from time to time, or vice-versa; in fact, the mania I'm recovering from now had no known cause, but escalated because a couple of really awesome things happened that pushed me even higher. And the depression I had last December had a lot to do with my work stress and the holidays, both of which can be VERY triggering for us.

Bottom line, not everything that tweaks our moods is BP-related.