[iluvdukie1]

Do you think it would be possible that I have Bipolar Disorder or Cyclothymia? Lately I have been noticing that my mood constantly change between happy, engergetic, jittery, and having a lot if fun, and depressed, tired, wanting to lay down, not wanting to talk to anyone, thinking that I am miserable and hopeless and that I am only going to be unhappy for the rest of my life. If sometimes changes within an hour, sometimes it takes a day, and sometimes it remains mainly for about 4 days with a few happy or normal short periods during it. The main reason why I am questioning wether I have it or not, is because I am not sure if it is intense enough. I will describe how I am during each mood a little better. When I am happy, I am constantly moving my legs, talking to my friends and random classmates, laughing a lot, feeling like I am going explode, even getting yelled at for talk to much, which I VERY abnormal for me. And I even start thinking I can do really well at some things and start to exaggerate more. Then when I am sad, I don't want to be around people, I want to slip into my own imaginary world, I want to cry the while time, I am very slow, do not smile often, feel very annoyed at anyone that talks to me, I think that my whole life is going to be miserable. One major thing I feel when depressed is that my life is controlled by others and that I just do whatever other people want me to, and that I will never get to relax and do what I want, and I also feel like I will never stop worrying about the things around me. I feel like I definitely have Bipolar Disorder, but I also feel as if I may be exaggerating. I think I described how I am pretty well, so I reall would appreciate it if everyone would comment on this telling me if it sounds like I have Bipolar Disorder or not. I am going to start observing my emotions and if I have enough people telling me that they think I have it, I will talk to my parents about getting evaluated. Thank you! I hope I get a lot of responses! By the way, I am seeing that a lot of people are reason it and not commenting.. Please comment!

[Clinte89]

I would say talk to a pdoc and mention your case. We can't say weather you are or not anything. I eish I could help you more but can't dx you. I will say that it sounds like me in a way so maybe but that's all I can say.

[MommaR]

There is a sanity score test on the Pysch Central main page. I recommend taking the assessment, print your results and take them with you to a dr. Just be very conscious of answering the ?s very honestly- dont try to answer how you think you "should"- either to seem more normal or to attempt to align more w/ bipolar.

[Clinte89]

Ah that's a really good suggestion!

[iluvdukie1]

Thank you guys so much, and I do know you wouldn't be able to tell me for sure or anything, I just wanted someone's opinion on if it may sound like it. I appreciate your guy's answers a lot. Thanks!

[unstablemind8]

I think you might have bipolar dissorder. Message me more about it if you want.

[hamster-bamster]

Sounds like a full-blown bp, maybe with rapid cycling... not cyclothymia. But see a doctor and tell him/her what you have told us.

[Confusedinomicon]

I would see a therapist and put off medication until you're a little older.

Medication should not be taken lightly. If you do decide to start taking medication, see if your therapist would help you come up with a 'wellness and fitness' plan. Get in the habit of working out and eating healthier. Learn thoroughly about the medications you are taking. Find out their side effects so you're informed. Psychiatrists make mistakes and you're entitled to tell them if something isn't working out for you.

It is really important that you stay engaged in your mental healthcare. You have to advocate for yourself and stay confident in yourself. It is easy to lose yourself in the diagnosis. You have to remember that you have a purpose and you must PUSH ON!

Good luck, girlll.

Originally Posted by iluvdukie1

... One major thing I feel when depressed is that my life is controlled by others and that I just do whatever other people want me to, and that I will never get to relax and do what I want,... I feel like I definitely have Bipolar Disorder, but I also feel as if I may be exaggerating. I think I described how I am pretty well, so I reall would appreciate it if everyone would comment on this telling me if it sounds like I have Bipolar Disorder or not. ... I hope I get a lot of responses! By the way, I am seeing that a lot of people are reason it and not commenting.. Please comment!

Commenting!
Of course you are right in realizing others can't diagnose. And I know it's not the gist of your question, but there are a couple of things about which I hope to be able to offer some comfort. Regarding the first sentence of the quoted material -- at your age it's not unusual to feel that way. And it's not illogical. There is a sense of lack of independence because... to a certain degree there is a lack of independence(!) When you think about school -- there's generally not a ton of choice there as compared to college where one chooses a greater amount of what they study, there are parents, rules, restrictions in the work world, there isn't financial independence... etc etc. It sure seems that others, and probably it seems especially adults -- get to enjoy so much freedom to do as they want in comparison, you know? And that is true. (Although I'm sorry to report that it's less than it seems. There are still plenty of constraints, they're just some different ones. Oh well.) Anyway, it's ok.

The other is about the views seeming out of proportion to posts. There are many many reasons and they're nothing personal. Just a few... Time constraints (a biggie), having a hard time with words or thinking clearly, not feeling one has a helpful response/not knowing how to respond, wanting to think about it before responding and sometimes not getting a chance to get back to it, then feeling the response is no longer timely, seeing that others have already given a variety of good responses making one feel their post might be a bit redundant, or knowing they have only so much time to respond to threads, feeling the need to respond to another that hasn't received many responses or is perhaps missing an important point in the responses currently there, or knowing another one that they can better relate to or... or... or... And did I mention time constraints? Personally, I find it impossible to keep up with reading, let along responding -- and that's just in one forum(!) Also, among the quirks of my particular brain (and probably of some others too) is often having a hard time being at all concise, then editing over and over and over again. It's not unusual for this to go on for hours(!) (Why yes, I do have OCD ). Anyhow, it'd be impossible to respond to everything, and very very often not even possible to be able to respond to all the ones that we want to. Don't worry, it's not lack of caring though.

That said, I hope you get a nice number of helpful responses.

[iluvdukie1]

Something I have noticed is that the more work I have, the more stressed I am and I have low moods more often then also. But, that doesn't necessarily determine it for me because I still get my high moods when I have a lot of work. I am just saying, it seems more often.

Originally Posted by Clinte89

Ah that's a really good suggestion!

Clint! Is that you?!

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by iluvdukie1

Something I have noticed is that the more work I have, the more stressed I am and I have low moods more often then also. But, that doesn't necessarily determine it for me because I still get my high moods when I have a lot of work. I am just saying, it seems more often.

that's entirely to be expected. How are your "executive functioning" and sleep?

[LastResort11]

I'd say that it sounds like Bipolar Disorder, because you sound exactly like me, not even lying. But yes, it would be something you could mention to your Dr.

[iluvdukie1]

Well, I certainly haven't been getting much done lately, and my sleep is pretty normal. I have been sleeping more, but that also might have to do with the fact of staying up until 1:00 and then waking up at 5:30 every morning. I am definitely going to make a post tonight about how I have been feeling lately.

[hamster-bamster]

I am sorry to say but your sleeping arrangement is totally unacceptable, neither for your age nor for someone with suspected bipolar. To continue what you are doing is really dangerous because your brain is still growing rapidly and needs the rest time each night to accomplish the work of growing. What can you drop in order to get more sleep? Research the sleep requirements for your age, please.

[iluvdukie1]

I have known that I don't get enough sleep for a long time, but I just can't get myself to go to sleep early. This is because if I did, I would come home, do homework, eat, shower, them go to bed. There would be no free time in my schedule, which really bothers me.

[hamster-bamster]

Do you shower twice a day? How many extracurricular activities do you have?

[iluvdukie1]

I only shower once a day, at night time. If I were to try to do it in the morning, I would have to wake up a lot earlier. And the only activity I have outside of the regular school day is Jazz band once a week on Thursdays. I have to wake up earlier for that since practice is in the morning before school starts.

[hamster-bamster]

I see - so there is not much you can drop. Sleep is very important. Many issues, including problems with executive functioning, concentration and what not, resolve by themselves once the sleep schedule is in order. Your future doctor would want to know how you function and how your moods are when you meet the sleep requirements for your age (what are they - have you found out?). Just as an experiment, try meeting the sleep requirements for a month while moodtracking (all mood tracking applications include a field for hours of sleep since it is a crucial factor in bp management). You might discover that though you have less free time, your quality of life is immensely better when you sleep enough. That would be a worthwhile tradeoff, in my mind.

[iluvdukie1]

Yeah, maybe I could try that, it would probably help a lot. I haven't gotten the required amount of sleep in a long time, at least that I know of.

[hamster-bamster]

Insufficient sleep is associated with obesity, and you definitely do not want that.

[iluvdukie1]

Definitely not, I would absolutely hate that.

[Thoughtbubble]

Is your family supporting? I can relate to you in the frequency of your swings. I'm just out of highschool (18) and I can tell you, it can get pretty tough. I hate to lose my academic drive. Ive never really had true mania (other than what people refered to as an angry expression that I think was just depressed/flat affect) It's good to see fellow young people reaching out, I wish you the best of luck. Never give up the fight.

[iluvdukie1]

I Private Messaged you, it will be easier this way.