Whats the difference between being bipolar or having depression?
I go through fases or being really upset and feel really depressed for weeks, and then i will be fine.
Me and my friends seem to of grown apart and i don’t see them much anymore which always upsets me and i always feel like i have no one to talk to.
My sisters dont live at home anymore either which really gets me down as i hardly see them anymore.. But when i do see them i’m always really happy.
But just little things can make me really upset, and i’ll often just cry for no reason.
I don’t know if im bipolar, or if i have depression.. Or even if it’s just me getting upset/PMT/me just being a teenager..
My mum and one of my sisters have had depression through-out their lives.. Would that make it any more likely i would have it?
My mother has thought about taking me to the doctor to see but i just dont dare go. Would that really be the best option?
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Bipolar used to be called manic depression.
With bipolar disorder, life can be like an emotional roller coaster. One day your mood is low and you feel sad. Then your mood gets really high and you feel great. Then the sadness comes back.
bipolar = manic depressive
you are more likely to have depression. bipolar is a personality disorder.
It sounds like it could be bipolar. The mania side being just feeling normal. Not the extreme mania when you are going without sleep, able to move mountains, able to do things nonstop. I would definitely recommend seeing the doctor to make sure. They might be able to help find the right meds to help regulate it.
Well I’ve suffered from clinical depression for the last 7 yrs..and am getting it under control. Clinical depression, the most common among those who have depression, does come with highs and lows…but more consistantly feeling low and although, I know with myself…the feeling of not being able to control my emotions and feeling lowere than low is there, with bipolar disorder…the brain chemistry is sooo terribly out of wack, that the person may not even be able to control themselves. A bipolar person could fly into a fitting rage in a nano second….or be soo high that they can’t sleep for two nights…….But there are parallels with both and sometimes it can be a little hard to distinguish the two at times.
People who are bipolar don’t have a happy medium…ever. They go from extreme highs straight down to the lowest of lows.
I think what you’re going through is a typical American-teens depression. Things are changing and you feel horrible because of it.
If you went to a doctor they would make you take a little test, it would diagnose you with depression, and they would put you into therapy and/or on medication. To tell you the truth, most teenagers who take this test have around the same results and the same outcome.
In the long run I think you should just wait it out. Try eating a lot of fruits and vegetables along with a healthy diet and exercise routine, and focus on the positive aspects of your life. On the other hand if that doesn’t work, and things just become worse and worse without you knowing how to handle it then you should go see a doctor.
Good things will come.
You seem to lean more toward depression. Depression doesn’t mean you’re never happy. To be bipolar you’d also have to experience the highs. This goes beyond happiness – it can be extreme. It’s about euphoria, excitement, energy, little need for sleep, strange thoughts, can be some examples. You don’t sound bipolar.
Yes, I think you should see a doctor. He/she might be able to help and wouldn’t it be nice if you were more upbeat?
You sound depressed. Bipolar people become depressed but they also become extremely happy too and the change can happen suddenly and frequently. One minute you’re depressed, you see a funny cartoon and laughing hysterically. A depressed person gets down and stays down for a longer period of time.
I found that it just depends on who was giving the opinion. Either can come and go, and either can cause problems whereby no-one else can help except yourself and either can lay dormant for years.
At the end of the day, there are some things you have to let go of and realise they are not meant to be. . .I think depression/anxiety stems from that. The longer you hanker after a particular era or dwell on a certain mistake….the more you hold yourself back trying to disect the facts and attempt to put things right. Of course, you can’t. What’s done is done.
Learn from events and let your weaknesses become your strength by realising how to cope with certain situations.
some people believe that depression is genetic, if you were bipolar you probably would have already been diagnosed because the mood swings would be so extreme that you would have seen a dr already , since you are a teenager it could just be hormonal, but it really wouldn’t hurt to see a dr.
I agree with your mother, the only way to truly find an answer is to talk with a professional. Depression along with many other mental and emotional problems is hereditary and is often found in more than one person in a family. (In my family we bond over anxiety attacks!) Being bi-polar is severe mood swings and is often related to depression. Talking with a professional should not be as stressful as it sounds, now a days there is very little stigma attached to therepy. There are several courses of action you can take once you have a diagnosis including talk therapy (when you just talk about whats going on in your life) or medication that can rebalance the chemicals in your brain. It can be dificult to talk to people about things at first, but with time it gets easier and knowing that your other family members have been in this same place may let you talk to them as well… I hope that you get the help you need and are on your way to feeling better soon, I know how hard feeling good at this point is to imagine, but it can happen for you. Good luck!
Don’t do diagnosis over Answers – really. Maybe you are depressed I don’t know but most people to struggle with periods of depression that are situational and get through it by using coping strategies. You are a teenager and the bi-polar diagnosis should not be applied to teenagers. I would avoid seeing a doctor or psychiatrist over this right now. They usually go with medication first and that won’t help you learn coping strategies, which is what most depressed people really need. Instead, I would see a therapist or psychologist (they use talk therapies to help you understand yourself better and to assist you in developing coping strategies that will work best for you – different strategies work for different people). Frankly, I think therapists and psychologists are better diagnostians than psychiatrists when it comes to mental health issues because they usually are able to spend more time and have more in depth clinical interviewing than psychiatrist and medical doctors.
sounds like regular depression. i have finally been diagnosed bipolar. there is a big difference. years ago in my teens it was just depression, sadness that never goes away. pulling away from people and situations.. not wanting to live, etc. then it changed. i would be depressed for a while, weeks, months, then it was like a lightswitch, and i would be at the opposite end, couldn’t stop talking to people, very outgoing, happy, up, excitable. .. cleaning my house until i literally would collapse… then still going and going for days on end….. then i would go back down, way down, and those same horrible feelings would come back…. this lasts a while, then the happy again. my mmoods were unpredictable.. one day i just couldnt take it anymore, and finally told a doctor how bad it had gotten…
It sounds like you’re just depressed and in need of medication. Bipolar Disorder is a personality disorder that causes the victim to go temporarily insane during each "episode". No sleep, talking nonstop for hours and hours, screaming and yelling, jumping up and down, etc.
Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Medication from a doctor is the best treatment. I suggest you take your mother’s advice and see your family doctor. It doesn’t have to be a psychiatrist, but that would be even better. Good Luck!
You might have Bipolar II or Borderline Personality Disorder. Your mood phases are characteristics of both disorders. Depression tends to be constant; no ups and downs. I don’t think you’re Bipolar I! It’s a lot more severe than Bipolar II. I found some good sites for you! You should be able to kind of pick which one sounds more like you. I have Bipolar II and reading your question makes me believe you have it too! It’s ok! You’re still totally normal! =D
Bipolar has two sides, a happy and a manic deppressive and depression is just sad all the time. There’s more to it then that but i wanted to make a long story short
There is no reason for you to continue to feel as you do. Your Mother has the right idea about having you seek help. My suggestion would be to see either a Clinical Psychologist or a Psychiatrist.
By the way, you do not sound Bi-Polar.
Nothing..they both mean you’re NUTS!!!
You are more likely to have depression if it ‘runs in families’ as its a way that people react to life – a sort of learned depression. My best friend is bi-polar and she is on medication and will be for the rest of her life. She goes down to the depths and then on huge highs. Her meds keep her balanced. If you are depressed, you just feel flat and weepy and emotional which can come from pmt and being a teenager and being part of a family prone to it. I think you are quite lonely – its common to grow out of friends at your age as you are all changing and sometimes friends in the playground just don’t suit you as a budding adult. You need to get more friends around you who you can have fun with and spend less time dwelling on your circumstances. I think a trip to the GP wouldn’t be a bad idea but a busy life is always the best plan!
You need to talk to a psychiatrist, your normal doctor is unlikely to able to diagnose depression/bi polar. I’m bi polar and I was sent to see a professional my doctor couldn’t help me as he didn’t know enough about it to help me as mental health problems need to be treated by mental health experts. No one better than yourself knows how you feel but to be honest it sounds like depression, bi polar gives you extreme highs as well as lows, believe me you would know about it, if it was happening to you!!