[Bamboo_RedPanda]

I can read article after article on the disorder and all that makes it what it is, but I'd like to hear it from you all, from your experiences and so on. What would you say are the warning signs of the disorder? I know everyone is an individual and some things definitely can vary, but what do you think were the warning signs of the disorder for yourselves.

I ask this out of curiosity, expanding my knowledge, as well as to see if what I'm experiencing could be starting signs or are just part of my own wacky personality.

Thank you for any responses, I really appreciate it.

[Trippin2.0]

My 1st warning sign that something wasn't right, was how deeply I was affected by things and my resulting actions to these emotions. (read) my peers got sad, I got suicidal, my friends got happy I got ecstatic and didn't sleep for days, and this under the very same circumstances...

[bsnatched]

Major mood swings, crying, not sleeping. My family kept telling me that I just wasn't the same and they liked the old one better. Big thing though, the anxiety and anger became incapacitating. I'm afraid of my phone, email & mail so my world is starting to crash.

[moremi]

I agree with trippin. We are overly sensitive to situations. If we are at a get together with friends and things get loud and exciting we can become hyopmanic and get all full of energy and cant stop talking, I talk over everyone and interrupt a lot when I get this way. Just over a simple conversation that gets a little exciting can do this to me and it takes me a long time to wind down so I probably wont sleep that night until the wee ours of the morning. On the other end of it if something bad happens I can become extremely depressed. On the couch and cant move, absolutely no energy or interest for days or weeks or months. This can happen after being manic too, I can have a couple of months where I am hypomanic everyday and still sleep around 2-4 hours or so at night then all of a sudden a depression will hit from out of the blue and I will be on the couch lifeless for a long time. My BP is pretty predictable for the most part now. I believe I go along with the seasons. If its nice and bright and sunny my BP is on the high range and I run normal to hypo daily but as soon as fall hits or we have some gloomy days in a row I will come down quite a bit. The sunshine really effects me, with or without medication.

[Confusedinomicon]

I have the same problem with over-sensitivity. It's only when I take the right mix of medication does my sensitivity go down....and honestly it's a godsend. Luckily I am not TOTALLY sedated, but sedated enough that I'm able to function without having nervous breakdowns every few weeks because something happens in my life that I can't control.

When I don't take medications, I'm crying all the time. It may not be a waterfall of tears, but I get a lot of tears. The tears end up burning my eyes and then I look like a bigger mess.

[Bamboo_RedPanda]

Thank you all for the responses, now I know a little bit more about how bipolar disorder starts to present itself.

@moremi I can understand how the exciting situation can get you overly energized when around friends, it actually makes sense. Maybe it's just mental stimulations against the mundane, but it could be the disorder as well. I know if I were to do something like that it actually has to do with mental stimulation over the mundane always that I have each day. This too can cause me to have a long wind-down if I ever do, my mind will replay it over and over. I"m not saying my experience is the same as yours, I'm saying it's similar. Also, that's terrible that that happens to you when something bad happens, terrible that happens to anyone, but hopefully it's manageable enough now (don't take that wrong, I probably worded it weird lol). For me, it depends I guess. Something bad happens, I"m upset, like if I don't get accepted for a job I feel like there's no way I'll ever be accepted for a job, but I don't have similar issues as yours (considering I don't do much of anything anyways). I do have a bad way of handling stress though (but that's not important here). And last, for your connection to the seasons, I know how that is. Rainy, cloudy, overall dreary days dull me out, make me feel blue, but bright and sunny ones make me very happy and energetic (I've actually been known to talk hyperactively in an excited manner when going out to take photos with someone because the day was absolutely perfect). The weather and seasons effect me, but maybe it's not the same as how they effect you?

To everyone, I see a common warning sign is over-sensitivity to events and other such things, as well as mood swings (though the mood swings was obvious, no offense, just things I've read about bipolar). Thanks again for the responses, if anyone else wants to respond to the post please go ahead

[faerie_moon_x]

Originally Posted by Trippin2.0

My 1st warning sign that something wasn't right, was how deeply I was affected by things and my resulting actions to these emotions. (read) my peers got sad, I got suicidal, my friends got happy I got ecstatic and didn't sleep for days, and this under the very same circumstances...

^^^ This.

Plus, I was depressed at 11 years old and suicidal at 12. If nothing else, I think that was the first big red flag right there.