Bipolar and manic depression are the same thing.  If you think you show symptoms, go to a doctor.  However, it is not something that you are "okay" with for a few years.  Cycles may come every few years, but that is different than having cycles where you thought you were manic depressive, and going through the poles at that time.  It sounds as though you may have some type of onset anxiety or depression, but only doctors can actually diagnose anything.

So how do you tell?  You see a professional.

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It can be very difficult to get out of the system once you are in, and it can affect your life in other ways. Professionals are bound by a lot of liability laws that can get you into a bad situation pretty quickly if they think you are a danger to yourself or others, regardless of whether this is true.

Anyway, I don't know if putting a label on yourself is the most productive thing for you to do in this situation. It's clear that you have some kind of psychological/emotional problem and as long as you recognize this, I don't see why you can't just leave it at that. You could be flaring back up because nothing was ever changed in the first place; merely your emotions were dulled and thought process distracted by the drugs.

The most important thing is why you feel the way you do, and what goes on when you break, but this takes a lot of patience and time. Once you've gotten the reasons worked out, you can make a lot of progress though, and it will be permanent instead of just pushing it aside.

Post edited at 4:06 pm on July 6, 2008 by prisoner of hss

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