I believe it is over diagnosed in some places of the world. And I have noticed many who were not mentally ill, look up the symptoms, self diagnose and then become unstable.

I was honestly shocked coming to this forum and seeing that patients can choose their own meds and basically treat themselves with the pdocs handing out scripts. It saddens me the amount that are now addicted to benzos or on heavy duty antipsychotics for issues that are better addressed in therapy.

It took inpatient to diagnose me, doctors had to observe both mood states happening for an extended period before they stuck a label on. Too many people seem to think that any mood disorder is bipolar, mood disruptions can be caused by a variety of things and it is not always on a chemical level.

Mood diaries, being completely honest and recording ALL of your symptoms and triggers can be really helpful to some by showing them there could be other reasons for their "swings".