[NervousintheService]

Hi everyone. I am a 23 year old female who is questioning whether I might be bipolar or not. I have been to psychiatrists who diagnosed me with anxiety and I currently take Klonopin with much success. I am here because I feel like I might fit the mold of being diagnosed bipolar, while in other ways I do not.
I might also note my father battled a rare form of cancer for 4 years and passed away 2 weeks ago. During those 4 years I believe to have suffered from both anxiety and depression. I am not sure if my symptoms are connected to the uncertainty of his illness or a possible bipolar diagnosis. I have also had much other uncertainty in my life such as the death of my 3 grandparents in a short period of time and witnessing the emotionally abusive marriage of my mother and father at times. I am seeking therapy for grief in the coming weeks.

Reasons Why:
1. Mood swings. There are times during the day I feel very happy, frustrated, and at night or when I am alone, I tend to feel anxious, paranoid, or sad.
2. I am the "life of the party"
3. Low sex drive
4. Some periods where I feel like I can be depressed. Yet, not depressed enough to stay in bed all day.
5. Sometimes I really get excited about something.
6. I am a hard worker, yet sometimes after doing a job for a certain time, I get "burn out" and either want to be promoted or find a new job. I get bored easily.
7. I can have a bit of a temper sometimes
8. People in my family are bipolar

Reasons Why I might not fit the mold:

1. I have never been suicidal or attempted suicide. I have never had thoughts of taking my own life.
2. I am generally a happy person to be around despite "my moods"
3. I am very careful with my finances and I am not a big spender when I know I can't afford it. In fact, I saved $20,000 from working by the time I was 17 years old.
4. I have been depressed before, but I have always been able to get out of bed, dressed, and go on with my day and live with being depressed. It has never debilitated my life.
5. I developed a problem sleeping when I moved away to school, but rarely do I have a day where I can't fall asleep. Occasionally, my mind races and I can't sleep well. I don't function well on little sleep and I feel like I'm in a "fog" if I get less than 7 hours.

Again, I don't expect a diagnosis, but rather insight. A psychiatrist might dismiss any diagnosis if they know I am grieving or have gone through trauma in the past couple of years. That is why I wanted insight about whether my behavior could have to do with my life situations. Thank you in advance.

[RomanJames2014]

I'm not a psychiatrist but it sounds like your facing some anxiety issues. You could have an anxiety disorder that keeps your moods in a "fight or flight" mode.

Also, do you feel like the relationships in your life are going well? Sometimes if there's issues moods and anxiety revolving around relationships it could be something more and that's something you would need to talk to your psychiatrist about.
I hope you feel the best.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Keegan2015]

This sounds more like anxiety/depression to me. The thing that really sets BP apart from other mood disorders is the existence of mania, which I don't really see in your post. Examples of manic / hypomanic symptoms are rapid ("pressured") speech, delusional thoughts, extreme aggression, impulsiveness etc.

Originally Posted by NervousintheService

5. Sometimes I really get excited about something.

Could you elaborate on that more? How long does that "excitement" last for? A few hours, a few days, weeks, etc.?

If it lasts for a few hours, it could be your personality or it could be something like borderline personality disorder (BPD). You did say "There are times during the day I feel very happy, frustrated, and at night or when I am alone, I tend to feel anxious, paranoid, or sad." which suggests your mood might be highly changeable?

Borderline Personality Test - Psych Central

It might also just be anxiety/depression like Keegan2015 and RomanJames2014 suggested.

Imo you sound like you may have some anxiety issues but I don't see bipolar disorder really at all....Sorry about all the losses you've been through. Hugs

[~Christina]

Im sorry for you loss.

I really do not see " Bipolar " Bipolar tends to have distinct waves and most ups or downs really need to be for longer than the day or a few days..

One thing that you might find helpful is to chart your moods, often patterns might emerge there. When I chart my mood it includes , Hours of sleep, my pain level, Irritable, angry, am I feel good or Bipolar good and I also take into consideration is if I have something trigger me that day... stress over a bill or a family member being sick.. that is situational stuff.. For me Bipolar stuff swoops down and typically smacks the snot out of me and I have to go into overdrive to manage the episode.

[gina_re]

I agree with the rest of the group. It's sounds more like anxiety/depression issues. I don't see bipolar at all in what you have mentioned.