Have you ever wondered if you have Bipolar Disorder? It is not uncommon to wonder if you have a mental illness, let’s first start by exploring what exactly bipolar disorder is:
The DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which is the criteria on which all disorders are judged, defines bipolar disorder as the occurrence of one or more manic or mixed episodes often accompanied by depressive episodes. Even if you’re depressed almost all of the time, going through just one manic episode qualifies you for a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
So to summarize, it is about feeling up and down, with no real criteria of needing to be up more then down, and vice versa.
But the big question here then, is what exactly does it mean to have a manic and or depressive episode? Certainly we all feel up and down sometimes, does that mean we are all bipolar?
To experience a depressive episode, you need to experience depression on a clinical level. This is what makes the difference. If you feel down, I would encourage you to take a step back from your situation and look at a few factors:
Is the depression creating a significant impairment on your life? Examples of this would be things like: is it effecting your job, the relationships around you, are you sleeping a significant amount of time?
These are all signs of a potential problem.
If you suspect that you may be experiencing depressive and manic episodes, I would encourage you to speak to someone. We all experience ups and downs, but if they are having a significant impact on your life, it is time for you to seek help. Wouldn’t you like to have your life back in order?
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