Bipolar disorder?

[Yona88]

Does anyone here have much information on bipolar disorder?

 

My boyfriend (well now ex)'s mom is a therapist at psychiatric hospital. She thinks I need a psychiatric evaluation. I was offended when she said it, but more and more I am starting to think there is something wrong. I think she may have been just trying to help. I was told I might have some sort of bipolar disorder. But then I think "Nah, my moods are normal."

 

When I am depressed I lash out at my boyfriend and start pointless fights, or I am completely quiet for awhile because I can't pinpoint what's wrong or why I am feeling like this. My mood sometimes fluctuates multiple times a day. He has mentioned I have gotten angry numerous times and felt like it "came out of nowhere".

 

There have been fights where we'd go to bed angry. The next day I'd feel better and be nice towards him and act like last night didn't even happen. It's like I'd try to pretend it didn't happen because I didn't feel like that anymore.

 

I don't know what is wrong with me? Or if this is just my personality? He said he feels like he is walking on eggshells around me when we lived together. I feel like I am purposely sabotaging things when I have feelings of "unsureness". I drove him utterly insane.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Yona88

[Feelin Frisky]

There's nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting evaluated and considering treatment. Today's medicines can be completely "transparent" and in most cases people don't even notice them working. I am not bi-polar but I have benefited greatly from medicine. I went for help after a rocky relationship with someone who had borderline personality disorder (which I didn't know that at the time). The medicine was like putting a pair of eye-glasses on a foggy mind and I could separate things and understand my feelings much better. Older meds just act as escapes from feelings but new ones act the opposite and help you face them directly and put them where they belong. Good luck.

[oldguy]

There's nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting evaluated and considering treatment. Today's medicines can be completely "transparent" and in most cases people don't even notice them working. I am not bi-polar but I have benefited greatly from medicine. I went for help after a rocky relationship with someone who had borderline personality disorder (which I didn't know that at the time). The medicine was like putting a pair of eye-glasses on a foggy mind and I could separate things and understand my feelings much better. Older meds just act as escapes from feelings but new ones act the opposite and help you face them directly and put them where they belong. Good luck.

 

I agree but let me add; I NEVER solicited business & certainly not when I had any sort of personal relationship, including a family member of SO of a family member. That itself is suspect.

 

But do yourself a favor & get evaluated.

 

People see their dentist a couple of times a year, most see their doctor once a year but few 'clean their attic', so to speak, until they have an obvious problem. The most mentally unhealthy people I ever met where those who thought they where fine

[bigmomma1974]

there is all kinds of information on the internet about bipolar.i bipolar and learned most my information from online and it has helped me to understand what I am going through. Nothing wrong with going to the doctor and finding out and it won't hurt anything.

[KathyM]

I'm actually doing a research paper right now on Bipolar Disorder for a psychology class I'm taking. (I'm working on getting my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology). I also know someone very well who has Bipolar Disorder. I don't know how severe your moods are, based on your post alone, but it wouldn't hurt to get checked out by a psychiatrist. You may just have mood swings that are not so severe to be classified as bipolar. You may just have a brain chemical imbalance that would benefit from some medication. The manic side of Bipolar is characterized by losing touch with reality. Having feelings of grandeur. Feeling like you're invinceable and indestructable and can do anything. Feeling extreme euphoria, similar to being high on drugs. Losing all common sense. They also exhibit extreme aggitation, having racing thoughts that they can't control, and various other symptoms. That doesn't sound like you from what you've described, but like I said, there are milder forms of it, so I would suggest getting checked out by a psychiatrist.

[oldguy]

I'm actually doing a research paper right now on Bipolar Disorder for a psychology class I'm taking. (I'm working on getting my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology). I also know someone very well who has Bipolar Disorder. I don't know how severe your moods are, based on your post alone, but it wouldn't hurt to get checked out by a psychiatrist. You may just have mood swings that are not so severe to be classified as bipolar. You may just have a brain chemical imbalance that would benefit from some medication. The manic side of Bipolar is characterized by losing touch with reality. Having feelings of grandeur. Feeling like you're invinceable and indestructable and can do anything. Feeling extreme euphoria, similar to being high on drugs. Losing all common sense. They also exhibit extreme aggitation, having racing thoughts that they can't control, and various other symptoms. That doesn't sound like you from what you've described, but like I said, there are milder forms of it, so I would suggest getting checked out by a psychiatrist.

 

This reminded me; if you are diagnosed & are prescribed medication I would advise that just be the beginning. The meds will get you feeling well & some will pronounce you cured. However I would advise you begin to investigate further after that. Start by seeing a counselor & even suggest they have you see a nutritionist for such things as food allergies that can cause mood abnormalities related to brain chemicals. See a medical doctor or psychiatrist, which you will have to anyway for your prescription, and asked them to check hormones & whole body chemistry.

 

But the most important thing is to get evaluated first.

[NicoleM]

The guy I am seeing is bi-polar but strangely off his meds. He said he was bi-polar and doesn't need medicine anymore. How can someone not be bi-polar anymore?? That doesn't go away.......

[carhill]

He said he was bi-polar and doesn't need medicine anymore.

 

That's not uncommon to hear. What does his doctor say?

 

OP, it appears you've received some great advice. My small addition to it would be to address the physical and organic first, with a complete physical and appropriate blood panels, then take it from there.

 

From my personal experiences caring for a patient with concomitant paraphrenia and dementia, and who was also hypothyrodic (meaning low thyroid hormone output), I noted marked changes in psychosis and behavioral responses when the thyroid levels were abnormal, either as a result of missing meds or improper dosing. So, something as simple as TSH levels could markedly affect behavior. I also noticed, to a lesser degree, behavioral effects from changes in blood glucose (my mom was diabetic as well). I hypothesized that the mental illness stripped the patient of normal 'filters' for such behavioral impulses and these kinds of swings in behavior could happen otherwise but be 'controlled'.

 

Your body and brain are one big chemical factory. Everything is interrelated. Sure, a psychiatric or psychometric eval might be warranted, but start at the beginning. That's what help is for. Good luck. You're not alone.

[NicoleM]

I didn't pry but he doesn't see a doctor. We were talking and he said well I used to be bi-polar and used to take medicine. I know it just doesn't go away like a bad rash ( using an analogy here) I know with the proper meds it can fix itself but bi-polar just doesn't go away. I have OCD and depression. I take the proper meds and I am fine but if I took myself off of them I would get back into my depresed state and be gloomy all the time. However..... Some people use cognitive therapy or talk to a counselor and yes they can get off meds if they continue to talk to their therapist,etc but bi-polar never goes away it just doesn't.

[Dooda]

I don't think you have bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder usually has to do with a period of depression followed by a period of mania, and these periods usually go on for weeks or longer.

It sounds like you have mood swings, but the cause and the problem is much deeper. The way you deal with your ex could suggest something about the way you were raised or how you were treated in your past, or perhaps has something to do with the way in which your parents dealt with each other.

Try seeing a counselor, or a psychiatrist.

The good thing is that you see and understand that you have issues. I know a couple of people who don't think they have anything wrong with them, even though it's obviously not the case.

A lot of have issues that we don't necessarily know are there, or we hide and avoid them, and it shows in our personalities and the way we deal with people.

 

I wish you the best of luck.