[TheGoatKing333]

I don't know if I'm bipolar. The only symptom I get is depression that lasts for weeks or longer than a month. My old pdoc said I was bipolar type 1. I don't get mania, hypomania or mixed states. I never have highs. I sometimes get paranoid. I usually feel anxious but right now I'm just depressed and sometimes anxious. I wonder if I was misdiagnosed. What symptoms should I have if I'm bipolar?

[wiretwister]

personally I would not worry about a dx just get your symptoms in hand ,and I have learned to trust my pdoc ... but that did take a while ...

[gina_re]

I sought help for depression because it can be debilitating. I didn't understand the diagnoses either, but in time it made sense. If I was hypo, I was happy, what's wrong with that? But I tend to also get the irritability type of hypo mania and that started to make sense once I started paying more attention to my behavior and read more about bp. So it can be shocking at first to many people, but they get paid the big bucks for a reason.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Diagnosis is more or less for insurance purposes. I would just focus on treating the symptoms and not labels. I say that because I have a BPD diagnosis along with my bipolar diagnosis and I don't agree with BPD. I just focus on treating my mood issues.

[gina_re]

Also, having a hypomanic experience at least once is enough to count it for a diagnosis even if depression is the primary concern for treatments.