Need input to determine if I am bipolar

I have struggled with depression for years but it seems to coincide with events in my life. I have also had periods of high energy when I felt great. Sometimes I can be depressed for a few days and feel great the next few days. It sometimes correlates with relationship issues, etc. I notice severe depression following childbirth and feeling great during pregnancy (for the most part). I also think this goes along with hormonal fluctuations as I see patterns in the mood swings according to my cycle, pregnancy, and childbirth.

I feel emotions much more deeply than the people around me seem to and this causes me to become more easily depressed. I have never been dx'd nor have I taken medication and am in fact a mental health professional myself (go figure). I feel like its possible that my issues stem from medical issues related to my hormones but its also possible that I am borderline bipolar or have a bipolar spectrum disorder. I have taken several online tests and they all are close to but do not confirm bipolar. Anyone out there have any insight, suggestions, help??

As I am sure a bunch of people will also say, we really cannot even attempt to diagnose you. I can see that you have some things that are problems for you. I would really suggest that you see a psychologist or psychiatrist for a diagnosis.

Sorry to be not very helpful.

Yeah it is very hard to direct you based on a small post plus we are not mental health professionals. But it can't hurt to go to talk to someone that can assess for you a few times?

I agree. Sometimes it is easier to say (off the record and unprofessionally, of course) to someone that yes or no their symptoms definitely do or do not seem to fit. But your post was very general and your cycle of ups and downs, as you said, seem related to various types of events. It's worth looking into, I think, but I don't think we'd be much help. Nonetheless, stick around if you feel so inclined and you may get a better feel for what's going on with you through these posts. Sometimes we don't see things in ourselves until they are spelled out in someone else's experiences, if that makes sense. I've had a few "Ah ha!!" moments since coming here and it's been very helpful.

I hope you get it figured out and I'm sure you will. Good luck and welcome to the forums.

Hello Butterfly777, welcome to the club! My career is also related to mental health and I am diagnosed BP (as you said...go figure! :-))...It is difficult to be objective with ourselves so do seek the help of other professionals. Your mood fluctuations may very well be caused by hormones rather than BP...but then again a professional needs to assess your condition to determine exactly the cause. Best to you.

When you are depressed it is really easy to blame the depression on things in your life... that just means that even if you can find reasons for the depression there could still be some underlying cause... or not...
Pregnancy is often a time of diagnosis for BP, and hormonal mood swings have been linked with BP but the link is controversial - the whole bipolar spectrum/ soft bipolar thing is just one theory to try and describe what appears to occur - they may find it is right or it may be a load of crap - time will tell.
Regardless of bipolar, bipolar spectrum, unipolar whatever... if the depression is causing significant problems in your life you need someone to manage the treatment, they will need to assess you to decide what is the best treatment to try, but these things are often trial and error... be patient.

I hope you can find the strength to go see a psychologist or psychiatrist to help dx you. It's a lot easier to deal with something when you know what it is.
Blood tests will need to be done to rule out hormonal issues.
Hang in there and welcome to the forum!

The best thing to do is talk to your doctor about how you are feeling. Get a referral to a good pdoc for diagnosis, if there is one.