I'm finding it more and more difficult to verbalize what I am thinking in my head so bear with me...

~When your mood changes does it do so gradually or seemingly overnight?

~Do you notice a pattern - always going from mania into depression before leveling out stable (or any other pattern thereof)?

~Can you tell a strict difference between your moods or are the lines blurry?

I'm still in the process of accepting my diagnosis and what to expect (first therapy appt tomorrow finally). I'm struggling with feeling like maybe I'm just overreacting to stressors in my life and therefore not bipolar but just having some really good days and some really bad days. From what my husband and friend tell me though my good and bad days are too extreme to be considered "normal" but maybe it's just my personality that I was born with and can't be changed?

I feel very consumed every day of trying to analyze my mood every other minute of the day. I want to just give up and take my meds and not think about it...but then how will I describe to my pdoc how I've been feeling when he asks? If I feel better how will I know if it's due to the meds or my finally giving up the task of thinking about it constantly (not sure that is even possible for me).

I feel the need to strictly label my mood each and every day so that I can keep track of my patterns, but it is so mentally draining to do so. I know many have suggested to do this but I give up so easily because I'm sick of thinking about it. But ultimately that's probably the only way to conquer this.

I'm looking forward to therapy tomorrow but afraid I won't be able to find the words to accurately reflect how I'm feeling.

I'm trying not to give up hope but it's becoming very challenging not to...