Bipolar?

[ponderingsomething]

I recently read about bipolar and I feel like this could be something I have. I have struggled with mental health for as long as I can remember and now I'm 24.

I have been diagnosed before with depression and anxiety but I never felt like I was taken seriously so I stopped taking medication and just continued to struggle.

I seem to have frequent periods of highs and lows, and as I look back, the highs are littered with erratic behaviour. Running up lots of debts, spending money on bizarre things, indulging in silly amounts of food and insatiable sex, buying extravagant gifts for people I had only just met but I am also very successful and productive in my career.

The lows are bad, I reflect on stupid things I've done and stop washing/brushing my teeth/cleaning my house. I cry a lot and snap at my partner.

Basically I think I'm worried I will be wasted a doctors time or I won't be taken seriously again. I do think I need help though.

[NolongerAnxiousCarer]

You need to speak to your GP, no one online can diagnose you, I don't think you will be wasting their time. If its impacting on your life and causing concern then its worth seeing your GP.

[Itisnoteasybeingdifferent]

Does sound like you have borrowed my T shirt..

As anxious says, speak to your GP and you will need a referral to a specialist. Then the big question you will have to face is, "do I want to take the meds?"

From personal experience it is not an easy choice to make. Depending on which meds you will be affected to some degree. If they don't do something there is no point in taking them. They may help you manage your emotional excess. But the price is loss of genuine emotion and feeling alive (and depressed).

FWIW, I choose to take my meds because I have learned that life is easier whilst medicated than it is when I am blowing over hot and rushing about trying to avoid depression,

[AnxiousMunchkin]

OP what you write sounds a lot like what I experience I was diagnosed with cyclothymia recently rather than 'proper' bipolar disorder. To be honest they didn't offer any specific treatment for cyclothymia just continue antidepressant medication and CBT that they want me to do for OCD anyway.

Really I think it's a case of - is this a problem for you? The behaviours that could be bipolar/cyclothymic I mean. Do they adversely affect your quality of life, are they distressing or put you in danger at times? Do you want to stop them/manage them? If so then yes your GP would be the place to start, mine then referred me to a psych assessment team. You would not be wasting anyone's time - their time is worth it for improving your quality of life, whether you end up diagnosed or not. It's never the wrong thing to ask for help. You wouldn't hesitate for a physical problem, your mind is just as important if not more so