I've been lurking around the site for a week or two now and have finally built up the courage to post (I'm very weary of people I don't know).

I am a senior in high school who turned 18 about a month ago. I have always been an incredibly good student because my moments of lethargy were always balanced with moments of incredible production. However this past year I have been fighting an increasingly uphill battle.

In order to find reasoning behind my behavior I started doing research and have recently been thinking that I may have rapid-cycle bipolar.

I had always assumed that my mood swings were just part of being a teenager but it used to be that when I was up all I would do was never stop talking, sleep very little and drive everyone insane. Recently that energy has become more and more internal to the point where when I am “up” it feels like I am going to start exploding from the inside out. I get overwhelmed at the slightest things and cannot seem to control anything I do. I can’t sleep for more than two hours a night and eat very little. There is no real word or emotion to express how I feel.

When I am “down” I have various levels of depressions. Sometimes it gets really bad and other times it isn’t too horrible I just want to sleep a lot.

Do these sound like symptoms to you, or just normal teenage behavior?

If it sounds like symptoms, I’m sure some of you are older than me; you might even have children of your own. I am not very open with my parents. We’re close we just don’t talk about things. My family is more of a “don’t ask don’t tell” kind of family. How would you suggest I try and bring up my concerns? If you had a child how would you want them to bring their concerns to you if they had these types of concerns? If you have been in my situation, how did you handle it?

I just don’t want to go to college without figuring my life out a little first. I’m afraid that I’ll finally spin out of control if I do.

I’m sorry this post is so long, I appreciate your time,

Froggie