I was diagnosed with depression about a year ago now and im on meds.. but im beginning to think i may be bi-polar. Can depression lead to bi-polar? One minute id be on top of the world in the happiness mood ever thinking wow i must be getting over my depression and then next of all im back to the lowest mood! i could stay in my room for days and not eat or sleep?! help please
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Just letting you know bipolar mood swings don't last minutes, they last days, weeks or months and the up part which is the mania or hypomania can be so severe it lands you in the hospital. I don't know if depression can lead to bipolar, I know psychotic depression has a risk of leading to mania but I don't think regular depression shares that risk. Some people with bipolar have started out with having depressive episodes but then once described an antidepressant they became manic because they're bipolar and antidepressants usually cause people with bipolar to become manic. Bipolar disorder is a condition where people go from mania to depression and back again. Manic and depressive episodes usually last weeks or months and are very noticeable. They have to last 7 days to be considered a manic or depressive episode but almost always last weeks to months. During mania you'd have a high sex drive and possibly have sex with a bunch of random strangers, extreme energy, talk so fast people can't understand you, racing thoughts, abuse drugs, spend excessive amounts of money, decreased need for sleep(you could go without sleep for days or sleep as little as two hours and still be fine), reckless behavior, very high self esteem, out every night partying, agitated or irritable, your thoughts are faster than your words so your speech can become impaired, aggression(you could just punch someone or start a fight for no reason), easily distracted, unable to focus or attend school if full blown manic, possible delusions and/or hallucinations, etc. During depression you'd have a loss of appetite or binge eat, social withdrawal, isolation, low energy, staying in bed all day, sleeping too little or too much, loss of pleasure in activities once enjoyed, low motivation, feeling worthless and hopeless, thoughts of death and suicide, etc.
I have bipolar and it is not like that. The moods swings are weeks and months long. Sometimes even years. My typical mania lasts 4 months and depression 5 months. I become delusional in both mania and depression. In mania i think i am famous and have super powers and will meet the prime minister and barack obama is going to call me. In depression i have paranoia so bad i think everyone around me is plotting against me and trying to poison me. In mania i spend anything i get my hands on, even if the money is not mine and i steal from people just to spend. I cannot get a credit card because i will max it to £5000 in ONE day. I've slept with strangers because you get so hypersexual in mania that you will literally sleep with anyone. Don't need to sleep, even though i haven't slept for 4 days already. Rage so bad, i once tore the handle off my mums front door and smashed most of the apartment up in manic rage and she had to restrain me. Hallucinate and become psychotic when its a really bad episode. When i get depression, i almost always try and kill myself. I ended up in hospital last time. I don't get out of bed at all, i don't eat, don't wash or dress, barely even drink. I've gone an entire day without going the toilet because i was too depressed to even move. Cry hyterically for hours on end.
Depression doesn't develop into bipolar. You only have one or the other. You can have highs in depression but unlike bipolar they are shortlived and don't last weeks or months like bipolar.
I think your diagnosis is correct as depression, not bipolar.
The two are different illnesses, although it is possible for bipolar to be misdiagnosed as regular depression to start with. It is much more likely that you are experiencing the normal fluctuations of regular repression. The brief description of your elevated mood doesn't sound anything like full-blown mania, by symptoms or duration. But if you are concerned, talk to your psychiatrist.
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