i think i might be

ive been diagnosed with depression from the age of 13 however looking through things and generally thinking i fit into the criteria of biploar with the manic moodswings ranging from 9/10-1/10 these can change within a couple of minutes. do u think im reading to much into it or do u think i shud follow it up wiv my new psychatric team(just moved from adolescent to adult) wud be gud for sum advice.

[PsYcHo]

Alot of people get alot of symptoms that come with Bi-Polar but more often than not it isn't that. I would suggest you talking to the new psychiatric team and asking for an assesment to be made, they can give you a diagnosis and information on the outcome.

[elaboratedream]

I'd suggest talking to your
psych team about it. If you are, its important that they realize that. The treatment for depression (if you're on meds) can cause the moods to be exaggerated, and can cause major problems in someone who's bipolar. If not, there really was no harm in exploring the possibility.

Everyone has some degree of mood change. It's the severity that causes the diagnosis of bipolar.
how severe are the mood changes?
is the mood irritable or elevated?
does it impair day to day functioning?

[The Midnight Crazies]

I wrote down my 'theory' about bipolar disorder and I'll repost it if you don't mind.

I think there's something like a 'bipolar spectrum' and many ppl fit in somewhere on that 'line' going from totally stable as a rock (and boring too, I might add, haha) to full blown mood swinging from suicidal to manic to suicidal again every hr or so. Now the question would be: how much do the moodswings bother you? If you seek help for mental problems then yes, they do bother you to a certain amount, then some assesments need to be done in order to see how you fit into the bipolar spectrum and if it's not so severe I'd personally prefer therapy first cuz the meds do have nasty side effects, but that is of course a matter to be sorted out between the patient and the dr, I am neither of them.

Marte

[typsee]

Cheryl - I dont think it would cause you any harm to mention to your new treatment team, about your thoughts regarding what you've read about Bipolar disorder, and how you suspect that you may have some of those characteristics.

But as mentioned in some of the other replies to your post, ALOT of people in the so called'normal' population, have quite a few of the signs and symptoms of some of the more severe mental disorders. And whether you do (or dont) have a certain disorder, depends on a few factors -> how many of the signs/symptoms you display, what combination of symptoms you have, how long you've had these symptoms/signs for, and how much of a problem they've caused you in your day to day life. And only a psychiatrist, or a specifcally trained doctor of therapist, is able to properly diagnose a person, after they've gotten to know that person very well, and know all about how they think, feel and act ... their history ... how they relate to people etc etc.

Also ... if you've only just moved to Adult services, the psychiatrists still might consider you to be 'too young' to be slapping another diagnosis on you, and they may want to observe you for a little while before considering another diagnosis.

As long as you are doing okay with your current medications and support, I wouldnt be too worried about what your diagnostic label is.