Am I becoming bipolar or just am I just having mood swings

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Lately I've been having more mood swings. I'm seventeen so I don't think it's really hormonal. The mood swings often start with me being super happy. I become more energetic and upbeat than usual. I also have an inflated self-esteem to the point of being delusional. This usually lasts for about three days.

After that I always crash horribly. When I crash I feel very awful. I feel like my soul is being attacked if that makes sense. It's way different and more intense than my usual depression and sadness. I usually prefer to be around people in this phase. I usually look quite normal and I rarely cry during this phase. I do try to make myself sleep or shut down to avoid the negative feelings. This usually lasts for two days.

I recently had a less intense happy phase that lasted about a week. It was similar to my other happy phases, but I didn't feel as delusional or out of control. Right now I'm in the crash phase. It doesn't feel as bad as usual, but I can still feel it a bit.

Do you sleep less during your happy phases? What drives them?

I see you are 17. What kind of "containers" do you have in your life? I mean, how strong of a reason do you have to keep regular hours?

I ask because every time in my life, when I've had weak containers, I default to something that looks like bipolar. In fact, I was diagnosed as bipolar at age 18. Wether of not it was true, it was the most damaging diagnosis I've ever had, because the treatment options included warning all of my future psychiatrists against giving my antidepressants, which I really really needed some of the time. I was able to get them, but not without 4 weeks of mood stabilizers first (lithium, depakote). But, perhaps there are better treatments out there now.

I've worked very hard to get bipolar off my record.

The only treatment that actually stopped that cycle for me was strong containers. Either parents who made me go to bed and be certain places (school) at certain times, or, when I was married with a full-time job. Having kids has been the sturdiest container of them all. I certainly wouldn't recommend having kids to cure bipolar disorder (that's horrible advice). But, containers are helpful and grounding.

How often do you cycle? Is this over a period of several months that you're up and then down for several months, or is it faster over the course of days or weeks?

Your description sounds like what I was going through and finally after having enough of it, I figured out the right things to say to my psychologist for her to understand. I then got a diagnosis of cyclothymia. I used sleep and other activities to try and avoid the crushing depression that could come on when I was downcycled.

If I were a psychiatrist, which I'm not, I would be reluctant to make a diagnosis based on this amount of information.

I think that if these symptoms are a problem for you, in that they are causing you distress or disrupting your life, then you should seek help, from someone qualified.

I have bipolar but my presentation is entirely different from yours. From what I understand the symptoms might be bipolar but they might be something else entirely.

I'm potentially bipolar, but none of my neurological peoples want to make assumptions. It does sound a little like it, but a little more like my situation. I tend to shift moods very quickly.

I can't post links up as I'm a newbie, but the Bipolar UK website has a lot of resources on it, including mood diaries (just google "Bipolar UK mood diaries"). Maybe if you keep a diary over a few months, noting things like medication, alcohol and drug use, hours you slept and so on.

NHS processes can be long. If you want to speak to a GP, I think mood diaries would be the best argument to be taken seriously (I've had endless issues with some GPs and it took being given medication which made me hypomanic for me to be diagnosed). Note also, if you are a heavy drinker or recreational drugs user -I don't know if you are- some psychiatrists won't see you.

Bipolar has triggers. These can be related to sleep, stress and lifestyle.

If you're hyper and sleeping very little, try to keep a regular pattern and resist the urge to stay awake. I take Kalms when hypomanic, but don't wish to recommend anything because I'm not a doctor. It's hard when the mind is racing, but part of the crash afterwards is often due to not having slept and you need to recharge.