As we know all too well, BP is chock-full of states of being (understatement). And so many of them are hard to put into words. But still we try, don't we? Sometimes it's a single word, sometimes it's a phrase. So here's the question: what words or phrases do YOU use to try to describe how you feel? They don't have to be unusual, just what resounds with you.

(If a definition or description might be helpful, by all means feel free to include it. There's been many a word that has come to mind that I look up to check to see if it's got the right nuance. And in the process sometimes run into a similar one that's a better fit).

A few to start:

Forlorn ...(desolate, lonely and sad, forsaken, expressive of hopelessness, despairing)

"Like whale s*** at the bottom of the ocean" ...(saw that one at crazymeds site )

frenetic ...(fast and energetic in a rather uncontrolled way)

Aaaaaand go!

[Curious651]

Mind jumps and mood switches like ducks butt going up stream!

[Trippin2.0]

"My brain is short circuiting again"


That phrase kinda covers any and all of my BP experiences...


Specific to feelings would be, "I feel like death warmed over" or "I feel like the shyt shyt just shat out"...


I'm never one to mince my words but I fear diplomacy fails me when describing my emotions while feeling like an exposed nerve...

[Standup2me]

Feeling fragile (anything will make me cry)

Nails in my head (being overwhelmed by noise, smell, etc)

Incredible Hulk (don't make me angry - I am not very nice when I am angry)

[WorkhorseDVM]

I have an Incredible Hulk in my office and a print out of the MA Radmacher courage quote. Both before I knew I was bipolar.

[Tucson]

Cognitive difficulties. This is when I have problems with memory or being able to focus enough to think things through.

I can't get air in.

My head is filled with black goo.

Lickety split, it's zoom zoom zoom.

My ears are ringing, but no one's home.

"Short circuiting", YES! I use that one too -- for when the thoughts (if they could be called that) are like motions that are at all zipping by at weird angles, crashing and derailing. Or just sitting there buzzing "duuuuuhh" like a mantra. Can't hold a thought, and randomly stop talking, having gone completely blank.

Your Incredible Hulk = my Rabid Wolverine (the ferocious beastie, not the character, though there is a perception of being adamantine )

And "fragile", yes and sometimes "brittle" -- on the verge of being shattered.

(Duck's butt. Heehee.)

Keep 'em coming ---- only a few thousand more states of being to go!

[BipolaRNurse]

Some of mine:

I feel like something the dog found under the house, chewed on for a bit, and then buried in the yard.

My mind's on shuffle and there's no Off switch.

Manicky and panicky.

Lower than snail s**t.

I'm running around like my hair's on fire and my @$$ is catching.

[Patsy Cline]

Weak and lazy.....

[WorkhorseDVM]

Someone told me they were chasing their tail and could not catch it. I said I did not even know where my tail was!

[Victoria'smom]

It's been..... interesting.

[ozzy1313]

roller coaster

awful person

self absorbed

[JigssawFeeling]

Can't brain today, have the dumb. (Widely used indeed, but I really like it)
Retardationing.
Playing hide n' seek with myself.

[~Christina]

Depressed ..... feel like a puddle that is always trying to pull together into a useful form ( Think the movie Abyss)

Manic .... Angry, mad, pissed off ,hateful wanna pull the ears off puppies and kittens.

Mixed.... All of the above moods with a dose of mega steroids and nitrogen.

"Dominoes in a blender"…. thoughts are crashing around, so many things dependent on so many others (but if…but if…but if). It just goes around and around, a deluge of info that goes nowhere.

"Goldfish in a piranha pond"…. eaten alive by the world. Everyone and everything is against me and I'm not "whatever" enough to make it. Not a chance.

[Heechee55]

I've told people that it's like my processor is overclocked. It's just a matter of time until it burns up or crashes.

[Lobster Hands]

Cracked glass ready to shatter.

[Capriciousness]

Head and body filled with broken glass

"Do you know the feeling when your contacts aren't quite right? Like not quite lined up with your eyes and you keep rubbing and blinking and trying to get them back into place??? Yeah that is what happens in my brain."

It is like the needle on the record player of my brain is out of the groove and screeching

My brain is like a salad spinner trying to spin when not lined up right.

"I'm feeling all Bipolar today"

moopy

suffocating

freakshow in my brain

high

bubbling

revving up

ramping up

buzzy

buzzing

"smiling to myself, laughing to myself, winking at the mirror"

Heechee -- overclocked processor -- too true. Some other "over" favorites...Overloaded, over wrought, overwhelmed.

Ooooh, Capriciousness, that's a good analogy with the salad spinner! Good description of this morning actually. Trying to get ready to go somewhere, bunch of different things to gather and do. When the ol' twirling my hands around and shaking my head didn't line all the spinning things up didn't work (Haha, yes, I do this a lot. It actually never works. ), had to sit down, and just try to get bearings (and calm down, because it's very stressful to not be able to think straight of course). Tried to explain to BF. Yes, have list(s). But this things 20%, this one's 60%. This thing I did. I think. Not sure though. Better check. They're all spinning around with thoughts that aren't even thoughts bouncing around in there wreaking havoc. Etc. etc.

(Btw, folks -- kudos to Capriciousness, for it was she that planted the idea for this thread. )

[Crazy Hitch]

Seesaw

Merry-go-round

Roller coaster

[Tucson]

Originally Posted by Heechee55

I've told people that it's like my processor is overclocked. It's just a matter of time until it burns up or crashes.

Having been a computer technician, I can relate to this!