I Think I May Be Bipolar?

Question by : I think I may be bipolar?
This is my second semester at UVM, my second year at college. I transferred from another school which I absolutely hated i.e. I was depressed lost 50 lbs in 3 months and was deeply depressed. This depression resolved itself at UVM, I did well in most of my courses aside from on in which I received a C+, but I shrugged this off. I listened to my advisor and and took a summer chem course in 4 weeks that tanked my GPA, because it was different than the chem at my previous university. I had begun to get depressed right before summer and my mental health seemed to slowly descend into the plutonian chasms from that point. This semester, I can’t concentrate, I can’t sleep well, and I’m so nervous I never perform well on any exam. I was always an A student in Highs school, and took AP courses, but of course I was depressed then as well. I have bouts of great creativity/energy followed long periods of depression. I just don’t know what to do? i’ve contemplated suicide many times and wouldn’t mind dying, but….I just don’t know??!?

Best answer:

Answer by ChiMom
I have worked in psych for 25 yrs and have some info.
Bipolar disorder runs in families & is due to brain chemistry. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental disorders and can do an evaluation. If you have no family history of it, or of depression, you probably don't have it.
But, many people go through periods of anxiety & depression from life stressors.
College is a tough time– it was for me too.
You could see a counselor for more information as well as emotional support. Many schools have free student counseling.
I have found that simplifying my life down to "living one day at a time" has lowered my stress. Also deep breathing & not sweating the small stuff.
Best wishes.

Answer by James
“Am I Bipolar?”- this is one perplexing question a person, constantly experiencing dramatic mood swings in each and every single day of his life, would like to answer. In a year, one percent of Americans with ages 18 and above suffer a manic-depressive illness called Bipolar Disorder. How does one really know if he or she suffers from Bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder, which is formerly called manic-depression, is a diagnosed psychiatric disorder that causes abnormal shifts in a person’s everyday mood, liveliness, and capability to perform. The person experiencing such illness may feel very much ecstatic, then extremely bad-tempered an hour after and then back again to feeling overly ecstatic with a short span of normal mood in between both contrary tempers.

“Am I Bipolar if get mood swings?” The answer is no. Since a condition such as Bipolar Disorder is seemingly different from a person experiencing the usual mood swings because in Bipolar Disorder, the symptoms are evidently severe. If such brain disorder is left untreated, it may lead to effects such as dreadful behaviors, inadequate performance in one’s job/studies or worst; it may even lead to suicide.

World renowned painter, Vincent Van Gogh, who’s Bipolar Disorder mysteriously made him even more creative; Hollywood actor/comedian, Ben Stiller, who was open to the public about his psychiatric condition; Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, whose Bipolar Disorder led him to a cocaine addiction and accusations of spousal abuse and author/actor Spalding Gray, whose suicidal death on the East River was

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