1. < Depression & Anxiety

Depression or Bipolar II?

Posted by vball91 @vball91, Oct 20, 2022

I was diagnosed with depression about 7 years ago. Now I’m starting to think it’s actually Bipolar II. I’ve never been manic, but I’m wondering if my periods of “feeling good” are periods of hypomania. These periods are rare and usually only last a day or so. Example: When I’m in a good mood, I can’t sleep and I’ll try on clothes in the middle of the night because I feel skinny. Is that normal? Maybe I’m just experiencing periods of being “less depressed.”

I’ll talk to my psychiatrist about this, but wanted to see if anyone on here has similar experiences or was initially diagnosed with depression but now has Bipolar II.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

johneckenrode11 | @johneckenrode11 | Oct 25, 2022

Thanks everyone, great input, much appreciated! Looks like I've got some research to do. Haven't seen a talk therapist in a few years, 2019 pre Covid - but could make another appointment easily.

REPLY
JK | @contentandwell | Oct 25, 2022
In reply to @vball91 "I’m afraid I’ll do just that: present the evidence for bipolar because I’m convinced I have..." + (show)
@vball91

I’m afraid I’ll do just that: present the evidence for bipolar because I’m convinced I have it. I’ll talk to my doctor and just stick to the facts. I’ve been seeing the same psychiatrist for 15 years, so he knows me pretty well.

Jump to this post

@vball91 I'm sure if a person is convinced that they are bipolar that they do slant what they tell the doctor to favor that diagnosis. I think that's true with almost any diagnosis. I don't know that much about this but is there also a thing that just involves frequent and/or long-lasting depression? As I mentioned the person I know definitely does get depressed and once depressed has trouble getting out of that depression but when depression has happened I can always see a real cause. That combined with never having seen a manic episode makes me question the bipolar diagnosis.

I think everyone can have periods of feeling good, almost elation. I don't know what triggers it but I know there are times when I feel unusually happy but I am not manic.
JK

REPLY
hubert | @kuma | Oct 31, 2022
In reply to @gingerw "@johneckenrode11 Understanding our mental health issues can be a life-long challenge, and I think it is..." + (show)
@gingerw

@johneckenrode11 Understanding our mental health issues can be a life-long challenge, and I think it is not unusual to move between different situations.

Here is a link to Cleveland Clinic's discussion about bipolar disorder, which made me really think! https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9294-bipolar-disorder

From Healthline is an article that points out specific differences between depression and bipolar disorder: https://www.healthline.com/health/bipolar-disorder-vs-depression

Have you had a professional assessment to determine what or if you are dealing with any of these conditions? It would go a long ways in helping you understand what you are dealing with. I know for me, having a definite diagnosis helped me tremendously!
Ginger

Jump to this post

Ginger I just downloaded the Cleveland Clinic article. It’s taken 77 years to find a door to open for the answer. If I lived in Cleveland I would be at the clinic to set up an appointment.

REPLY
danna | @danna | Jun 28, 2023

I was diagnosed withMajor Depressive Disorder Recurring 20 something years ago and yesterday my psychiatrist told me I had Bipolar II which came as a shock to me. Can one turn into the other? Yes it’s the same psychiatrist. Confused.

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.