well, I’ve been really upset about my life for the past month so i looked up for the depression symptoms and bipolar symptoms and they said they were:
for clinical depression with bipolar disorder:
-Decreased appetite and/or weight loss, or overeating and weight gain
-Difficulty concentrating, remembering, and making decisions
-Fatigue, decreased energy, being "slowed down"
-Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
-Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
-insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
-Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed
-Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain
-Persistently sad, anxious, or "empty" moods
-Restlessness, irritability
-thoughts of death or suicide, suicide attempts
mania with bipolar disorder:
-Disconnected and racing thoughts
-Inappropriate irritability
-Increased talking speed and/or volume
-Markedly increased energy
-Poor judgment
-Severe insomnia
-Grandiose notions
and well, i have been having these symptoms lately:
-i’ve overeaten a little bit and i gained 3 lbs in a week.
-i’ve been having thoughts of suicide
-i’ve had a hard time remembering sometimes
-i’ve felt worthless and hopeless
-felt like nobody cares about me
-my stomach hurts every other day
-i’ve lost interest in hanging out with my friends, in my pottery class, in art, which i normally enjoy very much
-i’ve felt really tired lately even though i get about 10-12 hours of sleep a night
-i’m constantly escaping to the bathroom cause i have random emotional breakdowns and i can’t control them
-i’ve been irritable and angry all the time
-i’ve been fine with life and how i am one day then the next i feel completely alone and that my life sucks
-i’ve been off and on about self-mutilation
and i’m off and on about about whether i want depression or bipolar disorder or not.
i need to know if i’m depressed and i don’t know what to do or anything.
It’s good that you recognize that something is wrong, have looked up your symptoms and are open to help from others, but only a professional can properly diagnose you. This is a little beyond the Y!A community. Accepting that you have a problem is important and you should keep in mind that a lot of people deal with mental disorders, so it is nothing to be ashamed of.
A professional can also prescribe the meds you need. Most mental disorders are due to a chemical imbalance in the brain and are easily controlled with meds (although it may take 4-6 weeks for the meds to take effect). The other important thing to remember is that because the meds are correcting a chemical imbalance any drastic changes in taking your meds (i.e., not taking them because you think you don’t need them anymore) can cause drastic changes in your behaviour. Always consult your doctor before decreasing or stopping your meds.
j0e
Depression maybe but not Bipolar. You do not describe anything that resambles mania. The moods in Bipolar last for weeks or months and only change 2 or 3 times a year….. you are not Bipolar.
Everyone has moods like those of Bipolar Disorder……. because everyone has mood swings, momentary loss of judgment, likes to go shopping, likes sex, feels down sometimes, gets angry now and then and is hyper on occasion. The difference is that all of these symptoms in Bipolar are so intense that they interfere with your ability to function. Think of a pole (biPOLEr) with 0 at the center (0 being normal) and 10 at one end (manic) and -10 at the other (deep depression). Most people have swings but stay within 3 to -3. I have fairly severe Bipolar 1 but since my psychosis is mild I go from -9 to 9…. Also depression that comes and goes is not bipolar but just recurring depression, you have to have mania for it to be Bipolar….. you have to go to both ends of the pole.
Rapidly changing emotions or becoming angry or sad easily is not all there is to Bipolar. That is just having emotions. People with Bipolar Disorder do not just change emotions quickly, they go through periods of depression followed by periods of mania or elevated mood. Mood affects everything about you…. your energy level, self esteem, sleep patterns, appetite, sexuality, emotional response, judgment, etc….. not just your emotions. And while rapid cycling is possible, it is rare. The average person with Bipolar only cycles two or three times a year and the moods last for weeks or months. It is considered rapid cycling if they cycle 4 or more times in a year.
While everyone with Bipolar has a different set of symptoms and a different severity of symptoms, this is what Bipolar is like for me:
Depression – too tired to get out of bed, shower, even to brush my teeth. Cry all the time, sleep 16 hours a day. Feelings of self loathing and guilt that drive me to think of suicide but I’m to tired to even think about how to go about killing myself. It makes you feel small and worthless and completely insignificant. It makes you think about how big the world is and how meaningless you are in it….. and it refuses to let you have any good thoughts or see any good things…. when you look in the mirror all you see is pain, you don’t even see yourself, you don’t taste your favorite foods anymore, see that flowers are blooming, whether or not the sun is out, you become so inward that you hardly even notice your surroundings….. You don’t even feel love for people anymore…. positive thoughts are just not possible…… it is a deep dark hole with no way out and no light for hope…. and most of all it makes you feel sooooo alone. And even if there were someone who cared about you they would be better off if you killed yourself……. because all you will ever be is a burden……. this can last from a couple of weeks to a couple of years.
Mania – Way too happy! PARTY GIRL! love drink and drugs. Talk really fast and pressured because my thoughts are going faster than my mouth can keep up with. Hypersexual – like I sleep with strangers and guys I just met on the internet or I masturbate 10 times a day. I once became bisexual because there were twice as many people to sleep with. down load porn and spend tons of money on sex toys. Spending sprees….. I once spent my mortgage money on african violets, yep, $1500 on African violets (then I got depressed and let them all die). Quit my job because I wanted my vacation pay for lottery tickets and I was so convinced I would win that I started shopping and writing bad checks because I’d be rich as soon as the numbers were drawn. Decided that I could replace the furnace in my home by myself… I mean how hard can it be….. Only sleep 2 or maybe 3 hours a night for months on end and never feel tired. In the end I was unemployed, $30,000 in debt, and had almost lost my home, which needed a new furnace because I had removed the old one.. or parts of it anyway. This can last for months.
I also have mixed states when I am depressed and manic at the same time which are truly the worst… By body and mind are depressed but there is this undercurrent of energy running all the time….. I’m highly emotional but the emotions tend to be negative (guilt and anger) I have intrusive thoughts and urges to mutilate myself (like wanting to stick my hands in the garbage disposal or cooking them on the BBQ), and I also have psychotic episodes where I hallucinate. This is when I am most suseptible to suicide because I am depressed, wanting to hurt myself, and I have the mental energy to plan and carry it out.
References :
Well, I would say anti depressants works both for depression and bi polar.
If you feel extremly sad and restless I suggest going to be set on meds.
I was once so depressed and stressed that I couldnt take life anymore so I was put on some meds which made me feel relaxed and sleepy. I slept most of the day. That way I abstracted from negative emotions and real life.
But I wana say that meds should be taken only for some time, they are not the answer for your problem. You must realise what you want in your life and what makes you happy. And do things you like, hang out with people you like etc
Good luck
References :
You’re one of MILLIONS of people today that desperately want something to be wrong with you. That’s what all the cool kids do these days, isn’t that right?
Same redundant bullshit. There’s one of you anywhere you look today, and it got tiresome a LONG fckin time ago.
References :
Sounds like just depression (I don’t mean that like oh it’s just depression, not that bad. I mean as in it’s depression on it’s own and not bipolar)
Bipolar people don’t just feel ok then depressed they get overly excited and happy and have periods of normal mood x
References :
It’s good that you recognize that something is wrong, have looked up your symptoms and are open to help from others, but only a professional can properly diagnose you. This is a little beyond the Y!A community. Accepting that you have a problem is important and you should keep in mind that a lot of people deal with mental disorders, so it is nothing to be ashamed of.
A professional can also prescribe the meds you need. Most mental disorders are due to a chemical imbalance in the brain and are easily controlled with meds (although it may take 4-6 weeks for the meds to take effect). The other important thing to remember is that because the meds are correcting a chemical imbalance any drastic changes in taking your meds (i.e., not taking them because you think you don’t need them anymore) can cause drastic changes in your behaviour. Always consult your doctor before decreasing or stopping your meds.
j0e
References :
On meds for depression and anxiety for the past 7 years.