How can you find out if you are bipolar?

Answer 1

Psychiatrists don't have a test for Bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression). They will decide whether you have it based on your symptoms and family history.

Family history is important. It often runs families. However, it can be hard knowing whether your relatives or ancestors had problems with depression or mania since it is often not talked about, sadly, even among close families.

Manic depression is characterized by cycles of mania and depression. The cycles could be regular and frequent, by the day, week, or month -- or they could be irregular and long -- as much as years. Seasonal affective disorder is a related problem where the person is somewhat manic in the summer and depressed in the winter.

Most everyone knows what depression is. Mania is much less understood. Lots of people think "manic depression" means "really depressed." Mania is the opposite of depression. It's when you feel overly happy, powerful, and self-confident.

Mild mania, or hypo mania, can appear relatively harmless. It can also seem enjoyable. It can be like being on a mild drug high. You feel great. You feel like you can accomplish great things, be very friendly and gregarious, etc.

Hypomania is more common, and is the distinguishing feature of Type 2 Bipolar. In Type 1 Bipolar hypomania is exceedingly rare, with full blown mania being the distinguishing feature, where you are out of control. You might feel like you can't stop talking or can't calm down. You might go on wild spending sprees and get yourself into debt. You might cheat on your significant other or any variety of other high risk behaviors. Severe manias sometimes result in the appearance of frank psychotic features; delusions of grandeur are very common, with delusions of persecution appearing in more severe manias. More severe psychotic symptoms include hallucinations; with increasing severity from olfactory, to auditory and finally to visual.

If you even suspect you might have bipolar, see a psychiatrist right away. Don't try to deal with this yourself. Don't self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. And don't see a psychologist and try to deal with it through "talk therapy."

Bipolar is almost always easily treatable with prescription drugs. Only a doctor -- a psychiatrist -- can prescribe them and help you find the drug and dosage that works for you.

• Only your doctor can diagnose you, but if you are worried you or someone close to you may have this disorder, I would suggest reading up on it through wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_I

• The only way to be diagnosed is to see a psychiatrist. They will likely give you a mood chart to follow your manic tendencies, so he can more easily diagnose you. Some sufferers of Bipolar don't have that manic "up and down" as often as people think. Some may have two good days a year. If there is a lot of things that you or others have noticed such as extreme irritability, inability to control spending, poor coping skills, hard time sleeping et cetera, it is very worth your time to get a professional to check it out.

• This comes from someone who is in the middle of being diagnosed with bipolar. They thought it was merely severe depression (not that there's anything easier about depression), but in actuality, it is likely bipolar as it runs in my family. If it runs in yours, it will up the chance of having it yourself-it is hereditary.