I have BP 1 and I was a wreak before I started Geodon! It has been a saint for me. I still have my manic and depressed moments, but not nearly as much. I have rapid cycles (up and down more than once a day or week) and it can be hard to deal with.

You just need to be mindful of when your mood is changing and take a step back to see how you should act/react.

I'm sure others can give you better advice, but that's all I have lol.

I'm not sure a therapist can diagnose you either from the view of competence and withing the terms of their licence?

I don't think you can tell from just a mood chart that you are bipolar - many disorders from physical to mental cause mood disturbance.

Do you hallucinate or get strange beliefs and act on them?

Is it a GP you are seeing?

You really need a psychiatrist to do the proper diagnosis and to sort out the appropriate treatment for you.

I take Geodon, Effexor and Trazadone with klonopin as a prn. I was taking Pristiq but went back to Effexor a couple of months ago. I have BP 1. Mine is bipolar with psychotic features. So psychosis got me a BP1 diagnosis.

acuriousfish is right, only an MD or best a psychiatrist can diagnose BP or any other mental illness. Therapist cannot diagnose it is out of their scope of practice and actually illegal. They could be reported to the board for that and lose their license. You need to see a real shrink. I am on Geodon too and its my saving grace.

Manic episode


Mania is the signature characteristic of bipolar disorder and, depending on its severity, is how the disorder is classified. Mania is generally characterized by a distinct period of an elevated mood, which can take the form of euphoria. People commonly experience an increase in energy and a decreased need for sleep, with many often getting as little as three or four hours of sleep per night, while others can go days without sleeping.[ A person may exhibit pressured speech, with thoughts experienced as racing. Attention span is low, and a person in a manic state may be easily distracted. Judgment may become impaired, and sufferers may go on spending sprees or engage in behavior that is quite abnormal for them.
They may indulge in substance abuse, particularly alcohol or other depressants, cocaine or other stimulants, or sleeping pills. Their behavior may become aggressive, intolerant, or intrusive. People may feel out of control or unstoppable, or as if they have been "chosen" and are "on a special mission" or have other grandiose or delusional ideas. Sexual drive may increase.
At more extreme phases of bipolar I, a person in a manic state can begin to experience psychosis, or a break with reality, where thinking is affected along with mood. Some people in a manic state experience severe anxiety and are very irritable (to the point of rage), while others are euphoric and grandiose.

To be diagnosed with mania according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a person must experience this state of elevated or irritable mood, as well as other symptoms, for at least one week, less if hospitalization is required.[

Severity of manic symptoms can be measured by rating scales such as self-reported Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale and clinician-based Young Mania Rating Scale.

Hypomanic episode

Hypomania is generally a mild to moderate level of mania,

It is characterized by optimism, pressure of speech and activity, and decreased need for sleep. Generally, hypomania DOES NOT inhibit functioning like mania.
Many people with hypomania are actually in fact more productive than usual.....while manic individuals have difficulty completing tasks due to a shortened attention span.
Some people have increased creativity while others demonstrate poor judgment and irritability.
Many people experience signature hypersexuality. These persons generally have increased energy and tend to become more active than usual. They DO NOT, however, have delusions or hallucinations.
Hypomania can be difficult to diagnose because it may masquerade as mere happiness, though it carries certain risks.

Hypomania may feel good to the person who experiences it. Thus, even when family and friends learn to recognize the mood swings, the individual often will deny that anything is wrong.
Also, the individual may not be able to recall the events that took place while they were experiencing hypomania.

What might be called a "hypomanic event", if not accompanied by complementary depressive episodes ("downs", etc.),...is not typically deemed as problematic:

The "problem" arises when mood changes are uncontrollable and, more importantly, volatile or "mercurial".
If unaccompanied by depressive counterpart episodes or otherwise general irritability, this behavior is typically called hyperthymia, or happiness, which is, of course, perfectly normal.
Indeed, the most elementary definition of bipolar disorder is an often "violent" or "jarring" state of essentially uncontrollable oscillation between hyperthymia and dysthymia. If left untreated, an episode of hypomania can last anywhere from a few days to several years. Most commonly, symptoms continue for a few weeks to a few months.

If you have any concerns about whether your diagnosis is correct, you should feel comfortable asking the doctor to explain HOW he or she arrived at a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Everything counts on your own personal care plans and the life you want to lead...coming into sight .

All the best to you.
Most of this is Wikipedia'd.

I have to agree with my fellow BP people here.

ONLY a qualified Psychiatrist can diagnose Bipolar

It often takes several visits and a long series of written tests or verbal conversations , before a positive diagnosis can be made ...a little chat or two, does NOT a diagnosis make

Panchod you are preaching to the choir.

The mellotron choir that is.

Still thinking of a supreme mellotron pun....without going the laid-back film route...

At least we know what happened to Tuesday Weld. I mean Dr Tuesday Weld.

When you see the doctor...take a small instrument with you...a cowbell.. or a stylophone...an egg shaker...etc...cos you will notice the rhythm that they speak with....each doc has their own rhythm embedded in their well-worn speeches.You can use the vibrato on the stylophone too and detune it with yr other hand...to accompany their eyebrow furrows.
I take swimming goggles too...but that's entirely an 'add condiment to taste' thing.

I had been talking to my therapist for about two months about my symptoms. My therapist is going to talk to my doctor today about my symptoms.

ok, not sure how much notice the doctor will take - he will obviously want to talk directly to you.

Or perhaps you have been hallucinating or delusional when you visited the therapist so that kind of third person observation might be useful.

Mona? I thought I recognised your name - you were diagnosed with bipolar and on meds since 2009? I'm totally confused now.

My last therapist and pdoc had said that I was diagnose with borderline personality disorder. I was confused to when they said that. They thinked that I was borderline because of my rapid moodswings. They said bipolar doesn't fix my description. Now my therapist think I am bipolar 1.

I'm confused also. My last pdoc said my mood changed like every few hours. I still have the impulsive things such as going on a shopping sprees.

Right now my diagnoses are dsythymia and personality disorders. Borderline and Bipolar are a little similar so that is why I am confused. I will find out Tuesday when I see the doctor.