Poll of the Day > I think I might be Bipolar or something : /

(+) Yeah! (+)

When I'm home I almost always feel miserable and barely do anything at all.
However, while at work, I don't feel as bad for some reason. Even longing to play some videogames whenever I get home.

But as soon as I get home after nine hours of work, I immediately lose all desire to play videogames.
And so instead of doing something that might be fun, I don't do anything besides doing some random shit on my phone(YouTube, GameFAQs, etc.)

At work, I usually laugh and crack really shitty jokes.
I mean really shitty ones because most of the times, my "jokes" are just extremely cringeworthy puns or just me simply changing one of the words someone else just said and laugh to my own "joke". Y'know, like kindergarten stuff and shit only small kids find funny.

I'm honestly starting to think that I'm becoming mentally challenged or something. I feel stupid.

Tl;dr

*Sigh* I dunno. Everything just sucks nowadays. I feel like literal crap. I can't think of any part of my body that feels well.
I forget shit all the time, I'm always tired, my ass leaks shit, it kinda hurts when I pee, my back feels stiff, headaches and the doctors won't help me.
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that doesn't sound anything like bipolar
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sounds more like you are depressed and home sucks and getting out of the house improves your mood

this is nothing like bipolar
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Bipolar would mean you have drastic phases; one minute you hate life and want everyone to die, the next you tell the person next to you that u love them and give a bazillion reasons on why you love being alive. Its sort of a mix of depression and mania (feeling super happy for no reason)

It sounds like you may have a mild form of depression based on that but I aint no doctor
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Yeah, this is not bipolar. You haven't described anything that sounds like a manic phase, which is a major part of bipolar disorder.

Could be clinical depression, but I'm no psychologist - on that note, I strongly recommend you pay a visit to one. If this is depression or something similar, it has biochemical origins and treatment can help; if it's not, they may be able to shed some light on what it actually is.
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Sounds more like some form of depression than bipolar disorder.

Bipolar doesn't have as much to do with mood swings as much as it does with being neurologically manic (higher than normal energy, thought processes moving so fast you can't necessarily keep track of them, increase in hedonistic tendencies, etc) or depressed (lack of energy/lethargy, loss of interest, and possible bouts of sadness)

I'm bipolar 2 which doesn't have intense of swings as bipolar 1, but I'm often sad when I'm manic since it doesn't necessarily correlate to mood, but the mood will often go with the state of mind. Also, manic/depressive cycles can last week's to months which is another common misconception. Fast or multiple mood swings throughout the day is more likely a case of borderline disorder.

Some info might be wrong, I only completed 3/4 of my behavioral psych major.

@LeetCheet, Sorry to hear you are feeling cruddy. While I would agree with the consensus opinion that the symptoms you have described are not consistent with the classic signs of bipolar mood disorder (a.k.a. manic-depression).

That being said, a public e-board such as this one is likely not the best/most reliable source of diagnosis.

Humanistically speaking, it's okay to not feel happy all the time (despite what media/advertising would want to sell us). <http://theoatmeal.com/comics/unhappy>;

But, if you want your current situation to improve, I would suggest looking at things that you can do, rather than wait for things to change on their own.

Best of luck with everything.

Zangulus posted...

Thats not bipolar. Like not even close.

Consider this a good thing.

also this
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Ok I get what you're all saying but I do feel like my mood can kinda often become the opposite in an instant.
I realize now that I kinda forgot to elaborate on that part in my opening post.

Like one thing that happen often at work; I work with a guy and we deliver food to elderly people and we often laugh a lot while we drive in the car to our next destination.

But in the middle of the laughter I realize that I'm working with one of the laziest guys I've ever known and that I'm usually the one who does almost everything all the time.

Driving the car, delivering the food, answering the phone. I always have to do all of that while he just loafs off doing shit on his phone and eating snacks.
It gets pretty annoying.

I do feel kinda happy at home sometimes though. But my good mood can easily go away for something as little as small complaint.

A common example would be when my girlfriend points out that I've done that was apparently wrong. Stupid shit like that I didn't send her a text when I got home.
I immediately get bummed out and lose any will or desire I had to do anything.
She also tend to bombard me with lots of texts that I don't even bother responding to.
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none of that is bipolar
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TC probably thinks he's OCD because his channel volume has to be increments of 5 el oh el
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LeetCheet posted...

Ok I get what you're all saying but I do feel like my mood can kinda often become the opposite in an instant.
I realize now that I kinda forgot to elaborate on that part in my opening post.

Like one thing that happen often at work; I work with a guy and we deliver food to elderly people and we often laugh a lot while we drive in the car to our next destination.

But in the middle of the laughter I realize that I'm working with one of the laziest guys I've ever known and that I'm usually the one who does almost everything all the time.

Driving the car, delivering the food, answering the phone. I always have to do all of that while he just loafs off doing shit on his phone and eating snacks.
It gets pretty annoying.

I do feel kinda happy at home sometimes though. But my good mood can easily go away for something as little as small complaint.

A common example would be when my girlfriend points out that I've done that was apparently wrong. Stupid shit like that I didn't send her a text when I got home.
I immediately get bummed out and lose any will or desire I had to do anything.
She also tend to bombard me with lots of texts that I don't even bother responding to.

This still doesn't sound like bipolar to me.

I grew up with a bipolar parent, so I'm pretty good at spotting the symptoms. It's not just "mood swings" - again, what you've described sounds more like depression to me, though I freely admit I'm not an expert. It's really difficult to describe the mania that goes with bipolar disorder, but the best example I have is Jim Carrey, who is actually bipolar. Go watch the most insane parts of his movies - like the parts where he has so much energy he seems to be almost not in control of it, like he's about to burst at the seams. That's mania. People going through a manic phase can almost seem like they're on speed or cocaine or something similar - they'll have boundless energy and restlessness and an almost pathological disregard for the long-term consequences of their actions. Bipolar people in a manic phase will suffer from things like hypersexuality or insomnia and will do things like go on massive spending sprees or hosting huge parties. My mother used to go downtown and start handing out $50 bills to homeless people, something my family really could not afford to do at the time.

And contrary to the common portrayal of bipolar disorder, manic energy is not necessarily positive energy - when my mother would get angry while manic, she would absolutely explode, and even when she wasn't a big tip-off for me that she was hitting a manic phase was that she would obsess over everything, never sitting still and always fretting and worrying about absolutely everything. It would wear her out, but she couldn't stop.

So yeah, I dislike the characterization of bipolar disorder as mood swings between happy and sad; it's more like energy swings between extremely high-intensity and extremely low-energy, to the point where bipolar people hitting a depressive state have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. It's not something that happens mid-conversation; manic and depressive phases usually last days or sometimes even weeks, rather than being something you'll notice changing on an hour-to-hour basis.

But, once again, beware the risks of self-diagnosing. Go see a psychologist or other mental health professional and get their opinion on it. I know it's difficult to bring yourself to do, but trust me, the sooner you get a professional involved the sooner you can address what's bothering you.
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LeetCheet posted...

while at work, I don't feel as bad for some reason. Even longing to play some videogames whenever I get home.

But as soon as I get home after nine hours of work, I immediately lose all desire to play videogames.
And so instead of doing something that might be fun, I don't do anything besides doing some random shit on my phone(YouTube, GameFAQs, etc.)

At work, I usually laugh and crack really shitty jokes.

maybe you are or are becoming extroverted, yet are living an introverted lifestyle

another possibility which I have also considered for myself is that while maybe I'm an extreme introvert, that doesn't mean that literal 100% isolation is something that I can actually live with even though it seems like it sometimes. isolation seems like it might actually lead to a very gradual and insidious form of depression which is only avoided by being around people.
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darkknight109 posted...

This still doesn't sound like bipolar to me.

I grew up with a bipolar parent, so I'm pretty good at spotting the symptoms. It's not just "mood swings" - again, what you've described sounds more like depression to me, though I freely admit I'm not an expert. It's really difficult to describe the mania that goes with bipolar disorder, but the best example I have is Jim Carrey, who is actually bipolar. Go watch the most insane parts of his movies - like the parts where he has so much energy he seems to be almost not in control of it, like he's about to burst at the seams. That's mania. People going through a manic phase can almost seem like they're on speed or cocaine or something similar - they'll have boundless energy and restlessness and an almost pathological disregard for the long-term consequences of their actions. Bipolar people in a manic phase will suffer from things like hypersexuality or insomnia and will do things like go on massive spending sprees or hosting huge parties. My mother used to go downtown and start handing out $50 bills to homeless people, something my family really could not afford to do at the time.

And contrary to the common portrayal of bipolar disorder, manic energy is not necessarily positive energy - when my mother would get angry while manic, she would absolutely explode, and even when she wasn't a big tip-off for me that she was hitting a manic phase was that she would obsess over everything, never sitting still and always fretting and worrying about absolutely everything. It would wear her out, but she couldn't stop.

So yeah, I dislike the characterization of bipolar disorder as mood swings between happy and sad; it's more like energy swings between extremely high-intensity and extremely low-energy, to the point where bipolar people hitting a depressive state have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. It's not something that happens mid-conversation; manic and depressive phases usually last days or sometimes even weeks, rather than being something you'll notice changing on an hour-to-hour basis.

But, once again, beware the risks of self-diagnosing. Go see a psychologist or other mental health professional and get their opinion on it. I know it's difficult to bring yourself to do, but trust me, the sooner you get a professional involved the sooner you can address what's bothering you.

From someone with a bipolar parent, he speaks the truth. This does not at all sound like bipolar. But please do go seek a professional if you feel you are encountering mental health issues. Especially if this is impacting your life.
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darkknight109 posted...

Lots of text

I've been diagnosed with depression before so I guess it came back in full force then.
I've talked with a psychiatrist before as well. I probably need to talk with a professional again as my girlfriend has no idea how depression works. I've tried to describe how I feel and think to her but it feels like she's incapable of understanding it.

Sahuagin posted...

maybe you are or are becoming extroverted, yet are living an introverted lifestyle

I remember couple of years ago, I wanted to be less introverted and have more than two friends.
Now I am considerably less introverted as I'm having a much easier time talking to other people and even strangers, as well as having more friends.

But instead of being happy, I'm just getting frustrated because there are so many people preying on my time and energy because I want to do other stuff like playing videogames and watch movies by myself or with my closest friends(but they barely have any time like myself).

People from work are calling me when I'm not at work, one friend who wants to practice driving with me a couple of times a week, my girlfriend constantly nagging about how her mother won't accept our relationship bla bla bla...

It's because of shit like this that constantly robs me of my willpower and energy everyday.

I've even been considering breaking up with my girlfriend because sometimes she pisses me off so much when she never seems to listen to me and what I say.
I try to tell her about the issues in our relationship and her faults and how she can fix them but she just gets angry whenever I do.
It really seems like she's incapable of learning from her mistakes.

But for some reason I can't because it still feels like I can't move on without her.
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LeetCheet posted...

I've been diagnosed with depression before so I guess it came back in full force then.

Entirely possible. From what you've posted, it definitely sounds like there's something going on.

LeetCheet posted...

I probably need to talk with a professional again as my girlfriend has no idea how depression works.

Definitely not an uncommon thing. Hell, my sisters barely understood how my mother's bipolar disorder worked (granted, it got a lot worse after they moved out, so I don't think they ever got the same firsthand experience I did).

LeetCheet posted...

I remember couple of years ago, I wanted to be less introverted and have more than two friends.
Now I am considerably less introverted as I'm having a much easier time talking to other people and even strangers, as well as having more friends.

But instead of being happy, I'm just getting frustrated because there are so many people preying on my time and energy because I want to do other stuff like playing videogames and watch movies by myself or with my closest friends(but they barely have any time like myself).

Be careful that you're not falling into one of society's traps. Society tends to associate more friends with more happiness, and assumes that anyone with only a few friends must be unhappy, but that isn't necessarily true for everyone.

Introverts - the clinical definition of which is "someone who draws energy from being alone and expends it while being around others" - tend to have fewer friends, but the relationships they do have are generally closer and more robust than extroverts.

The big question to ask yourself is simply if you are happy with what you have. There is no need to put yourself out there for anyone else's sake if you are content as-is. Some people will be happy with just two or three friends in their life; others want a few dozen.

LeetCheet posted...

I've even been considering breaking up with my girlfriend because sometimes she pisses me off so much when she never seems to listen to me and what I say.
I try to tell her about the issues in our relationship and her faults and how she can fix them but she just gets angry whenever I do.
It really seems like she's incapable of learning from her mistakes.

Definitely discuss this with whatever professional you go visit - something about this statement is ringing weird for me, and the armchair-psychologist in me thinks it may be related to your depression. But yes, definitely go talk to someone about your concerns, since it sounds like this isn't your first brush with depression.
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