How do you determine your baseline?

I'm bipolar II and was diagnosed at 16. I had been displaying symptoms for sometime before that, but they thought I was unipolar. The antidepressants they put me on triggered mania.

So, ever since I was 12 or so, possibly earlier, I've had these mood swings. And I was posting in the check in thread about how I felt optimistic today but wondered if it was just me cycling.

How do you know what your baseline is? My goal with meds and therapy is to get to a baseline of happy. Not euphoria like when I'm hypo, but content and optimistic would be nice. I don't know if that's possible.

I guess, I've been ill for so long I don't know what normal is anymore. How can you tell what's really you and what's a symptom?

I think my baseline is a mild depression, idk if it really is or not.cause I just started back on meds last year, and started therapy back in March, so I'm still determining baseline.

That's a really good question. I think it probably differs from person to person. But overall I'd say it includes sadness and great happiness and in between (I guess contentedness?). I say this in the sense that sadness can be perfectly 'normal' (and not part of an episode) and great happiness can also be perfectly 'normal' (and not part of an episode).

Some people, at baseline, tend towards anger or pessimism, or impulsiveness, for example, so these things could easily not be part of an episode, or at least not until they become really problematic, in which case it could be a BP episode, or a different diagnosis.

I'm not sure, but overall I'd say episodes are truly at the extremes, and baseline is in the middle somewhere with plenty of wiggle-room for normal feelings of sadness, anger, happiness, etc., etc. I guess look around you, at people without BP, and see how they feel (if they tell you) and how they act. Even if sometimes it seems exaggerated, it may well be perfectly normal for them, and, although they may or may not have other mental health issues, they don't have a BP diagnosis. Hope this makes sense...

My baseline is when I am able to go about my day and not always thinking of " is this bipolar or not"

I keep bipolar as small a part of my life, as possible.

I wake up and do quick check
How is my sleep? Am I able to function and get everyday things, do I want to be around people or isolate?

If I answer yes to most . Boom ! I'm okay.

If I answer no to a few or so then I need to kick up my coping skills . And recheck myself at night.

Happiness?? Personally I don't use that word when it comes to my bipolar, I prefer the word content. Feeling ok in my own skin.

One thing I do like to remind people...... Everyone has mood shifts and shyyt days and it have not a damn thing to do with bipolar. It's just life.

I definitely understand that some ups and downs are expected as part of life. I just get suspicious when my mood shifts without an external factor.

A couple of days ago I was talking to a friend - 2 days ago I was really depressed, the culmination of a couple months of depression that had been triggered by grief and stress. Well, I complained to this friend that I seem to do ok for a year or two but then everything falls apart. And he framed it as an opportunity to build it back up even better than before. I think I took that to heart this morning, looked at things with a bit more optimism and decided to use this time to create a better life for myself.

I'm talking things like setting up a better routine, finding a better job, trying harder in therapy, exercising more regularly. Nothing like moving across the country or big drastic changes.

But I still stepped back and looked at that optimism with suspicion.

I tend to run a little fast, so my baseline can be a wee bit hypo at times. Right now I'm at baseline and I have sufficient energy (not too much), confidence, and motivation.

My baseline is mild depression. I've been at it for almost 15 months now except for some mild rapid cycling when my dog was sick in August and my sleep got disrupted. I was hypomanic during the Springs of 2014 and 2015 so i thought that was a pattern but Spring 2016 passed uneventfully, thankfully. I have cautious hope that my meds are tuned right at last, at last.