@justagirlwhoyaps thanks for sharing your experiences here. It sounds like you are approaching things in a very thoughtful way.

Only your doctors can diagnose you, and as they mentioned, this may or may not come with time. It could be bipolar, a different diagnosis, or you working through some really tough stuff (all of which deserve support, diagnosis or not).

Can I recommend something as someone who lives with bipolar disorder? Work on things that are good for you regardless of diagnosis. The #1 thing IMHO for bipolar is sleep regulation. Developing and practicing very good sleep hygiene is the most important lifestyle intervention to manage bipolar. And even if you don’t have bipolar - it’s a healthy habit for almost anyone, especially teens and young adults.

One more thing is that you can track your sleep and moods in a calendar. This can help establish a diagnosis if you can correlate mood changes to sleep, season, menstrual cycle, interpersonal issues, stress, etc. if you take any meds, be sure to mark those changes on there as well.

Good luck and no matter what happens, you can handle it.