am i bipolar?, help Options

[Laughsalot]

ok lately. whenever i'm just by myself. i think about all the events in my life that make me really sad. and i do get really rally sad. and then suddenly i switch to these really silly happy thought and i suddenly feel giddy lol type of happy. am i bipolar? no thoughts of suicide. well i do think that my life was a pointess burden for everybody else and sometimes i do wish i wasn't alive. but they arn't strong feelings.

[PINKLollyPOP]

Information:

Bipolar Disorders (also known as manic depression), are characterized by alternating episodes of mania or hypomania, and depression.

Bipolar disorder is often not recognized by the patient, relatives, friends, or even physicians. In its early stages, bipolar disorder may masquerade as a problem other than mental illness. For example, it may first appear as alcohol or drug abuse, or poor school or work performance.

If left untreated, bipolar disorder tends to worsen, and the person experiences episodes of full-fledged mania and clinical depression.

An early sign of manic-depressive illness may be hypomania--a state in which the person shows a high level of energy, excessive moodiness or irritability, and impulsive or reckless behavior. Hypomania may feel good to the person who experiences it. Thus, even when family and friends learn to recognize the mood swings, the individual often will deny that anything is wrong.

Mood Episode Types

To help you sort out the symptoms of Bipolar disorder it is important to understand that there are four types of mood episodes that a person can experience as part of Bipolar Disorder. These mood episodes include major depressive episode, manic episode, mixed episode, and hypomanic episode.

Major Depressive Episode

A major depressive episode is not a disorder in itself, but is a part of another disorder, most often major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. A major depressive episode includes the following symptoms:

Either a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities consistently for at least a 2 week period. This mood must represent a change from the person's normal mood; social, occupational, educational or other important functioning must also be negatively impaired by the change in mood.

A major depressive episode is also characterized by the presence of a majority of these symptoms:

-depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable mood.)
-markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day
-significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
-insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
-psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
-fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
-feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
-diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
-recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide

Manic Episode

A manic episode is not a disorder in and of itself, but instead is a part of other disorders, most usually bipolar disorder.

A manic episode is defined by the following symptoms:

A period of an elevated, expansive or notably irritable mood, lasting for at least one week. This disorder must be sufficiently severe to cause difficulty or impairment in occupational, social, educational or other important functioning and can not be better explained by a mixed episode. Symptoms also can not be the result of substance use or abuse (alcohol, drugs, medications) or caused by a general medical condition.

A majority of the following symptoms are also present:

inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
attention is easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant items
increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)

Mixed Episode

A mixed episode is not a disorder, but rather a part of a mental disorder, most commonly bipolar disorder.