I don't know how to bring it up..

I haven't been diagnosed, but I'm afraid there is a strong possibility that I might have bipolar II. I've done a hell of a lot of research and I've known a few people who've had to live with it, and I feel like this might be something to worry about..

But the thing is I don't know how to bring it up with my therapist.. I've only gone to see her once so far, but I didn't mention it. I don't want to sound like I'm self diagnosing, when she's the expert..

Any advice on how I could bring it up without sounding like I'm trying to diagnose myself with something so serious..?

Many people are misdiagnosed and treated for depression first before it's discovered that they are bipolar... Are you diagnosed with depression and taking anti-depressants? If so, that is dangerous for someone with bipolar and you could easily bring that concern up...

I have been diagnosed with depression, my therapist recommended I consider taking anti depressants. I told her I'd think about it.
I'll try to use that as a conversation starter if she mentions it again.
She believes it's depression due to some traumatic events that happened six or so months ago, but to me that doesn't explain my mood swings and other symptoms..

Thank you very much for the advice!
I don't know why it's so difficult for me to talk to her about it..

Keep in mind that a therapist is there to help you to learn new approaches to facing problems, they can not prescribe medication for any type of illness.
Your best bet would be to get recommendations from your friends who are bipolar on a good psychiatrist who knows bipolar inside & out. It is very hard to diagnose- so seeing the right person is essential.
I'm glad that you're researching it. If you have it- it's not the end of the world.

I just asked. It was about my 4th appointment and I just said I had done some reading and was I bipolar? And she looked very happy to not have to bring it up. I later saw a psychiatrist (NOT the one who'd been treating me for depression and making me worse) for a thorough evaluation and diagnosis.

I was misdiagnosed as having "GAD" and "Depression". Once I got with a psychiatrist that actually asked questions, he said I was Bi-Polar II Cyclical. Once I got on the right meds (2 mood stabilizers, no anti-depressants) everything cleared up. Took 5 years of trial and error but finally stable for a year now.

There's nothing wrong with researching symptoms and coming up with theories as to what you might have. Any therapist who gets their panties in a twist because they're "the expert" and their client dared to do some research and thinking, is not a good therapist, IMO.

If they disagree with you, it is just a matter of talking it over with you and explaining why they disagree, not a huge deal.

This happened to me. I was misdiagnosed with MDD and fed antidepressants, which inevitably sent me hypomanic. This is a concern that you could bring up w/o seeming to self-diagnose.

I was also misdiagnosed as MDD and went into a mixed episode from antidepressants. I can only tolerate them with a mood stabilizer. On my 3rd hospitalization I brought my pdoc a list of behaviors/symptoms/patterns I had experienced over the years and he diagnosed me bipolar nos.

i would think a good therapist would want to talk and listen to all your ideas, not just theirs. in the long run they might even be glad you brought it up so they wouldn't have to spend years trying to figure it out. it is great you researched it yourself too. good luck

It just feels strange for me to talk about his kind of thing in person anyway. I've always struggled with it.
But thank you for all your advice, I'll just have to bite the bullet and say something.
It makes no sense that it freaks me out, I haven't even brought it up with my parents..

How would I bring it up with a Therapist - just come straight out with it and ask for a referral to a Pdoc. There is no shame in asking questions and your Therapist unless they are extremely insensitive will back you all of the way since they have your best interests at heart.

Keep up the research, and perhaps start mood charting and keeping a journal of symptoms so you have something to take to your Pdoc when you get to see him to back up your suspicions

I've actually started tracking my mood.. So far it's been 3 weeks of almost crippling depression.. But before that I was fine.. Better than..

I just have to get rid of these hang ups that I have, where I think everyone is always judging me.. As if I want something to be wrong with me.. I know a therapist isn't supposed to judge you in any way, but it's still not easy..

My advice, chill the hell out, and just tell her. I'm sure she has heard it all before. It would be doing a disservice to yourself to keep it to yourself. What the heck are you fearful of?

Judgement.. I know it's silly..

It takes time to get to know and be comfortable with a therapist so it's understandable you feel weird about bringing up something big early on. I first brought up bipolar at 4 weeks with my therapist but that was 4 weeks that I had gotten to know her a little so I was fairly sure she wouldn't react negatively or laugh at me (my biggest fear). I also was pretty positive I was right.

When I did bring it up it was almost a non-event. I asked, she said yes and that the psychiatrist needed to confirm. Granted the day I asked I had manically adopted 2 kittens with no time to take them to my apartment so I had brought them into my session, which was a bit of a tip. We talked about how I felt about it for 5 minutes and then she moved on to something else, probably the kittens running around her office in an uncontrolled manner. Over time we talked about how I felt about the diagnosis a lot more but she gave me time to let it sink in first.

With bipolar every time you tell someone you probably are going to fear judgment. Your treatment providers should be the people who you don't have to worry about that with. But it does take practice to not assume that everyone will judge you. But not everyone will; plenty of people will surprise you with how kindly they take that news.

If you need to take some time before bringing it up I think that's fine. Get used to the therapist and then discuss this when you are not in the earliest part of that relationship. As someone mentioned tracking your moods would be a good idea and just watch that you don't start to go to either extreme too much, at which point it is time to bring it up.

But be comfortable with what you are doing. Not 100% as that might not ever be reached, but partially.