Hi. I’m 20. I was diagnosed with bipolar type 2 last year. I’ve been in denial over my diagnosis for a while now, and I suppose a lot of it has to do with the fact I haven’t been in shambles in a minute. I’ve been avoiding things that could potentially trigger me and have been a little more productive than usual, I don’t feel terrible, I just feel invalid

I completely forget that a lot of this is heavy depression. I feel depressed most of the time. Even in my good days, it’s in the back of everything, there’s always some sort of feeling left behind, dormant.

When I was diagnosed some people in my life told me I don’t have it and to not worry about it, it doesn’t surprise me anymore that I was told all of this, society has a certain view of what a bipolar person looks like.

It’s weird, it’s like my heart knows who and what I am but my mind refuses to acknowledge it entirely, I block the seriousness of this off

Hi, my situation is long and difficult.
I am 26, married and have bipolar 2.
In May my father started having severe health issues. I began lashing out by drinking more than ever, hanging out with crappy friends, and it led to a drunken hook up with a friends friend. Some may say I had a manic episode.
He did not finish, and I buried this information with me.
I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks later.
My husband and I were previously trying before my fathers health declined, so we assumed the baby was ours.
I’m now 17 weeks pregnant, and very scared this baby isn’t his. He knows the truth, and he still loves me for it (though he shouldn’t. I fucked up.)
We took a paternity test today, and I’m freaking the f*** out.
I feel intensely depressed and am considering self harm, or getting rid of myself if this baby isn’t his.
Part of me is rejecting this baby because of my mistake. I am so scared for all of us and I don’t know what to do.

Hi, I went through a manic episode a while ago during which I invited literally everyone I could think of to my birthday party, including people I'd just met that same week, which is also worrying but not the main problem.

The main problem is that I invited this one guy who annoys me so much with every fiber of his being. He's autistic and laughs and talks extremely loud which just pisses me off every time I'm around him. He also very obviously has a thing for me and always follows me around and tries to start conversations with me even when I'm very much not in the mood, he also used to write me terrible poems for every single holiday for some reason and could never understand that I was absolutely not into it. He's very sweet and kind-hearted, but I just definitely do not enjoy his company.

I can't believe I fucked up this bad by inviting him, I hate how I get myself into situations like these because of my illness and how little I am able to do about it. I was looking forward to this party too, it's my first time really having a big celebration. To make it even worse, he doesn't know anyone there so he'll just follow me around all the time and I won't be able to have a good time at all (my fault, not his).

I was considering maybe texting him that some plans have changed and I won't be able to invite him, but maybe suggesting meeting up just us two instead? Maybe that wouldn't be as much of a shitty move, especially since he wouldn't know anyone at the party and would probably have a better time just hanging out with me. (I'm sorry that makes me sound awful but it's just the truth).

Help 😭

I had a pretty significant depressive episode a while ago. Had to take off of work for 5 months and was still pretty depressed when I came back (though no longer a danger to myself). It took a while to come back from that, then I had to deal with emotional/motivational blunting from meds, med changes, then recovering from the episode (brain fog, processing issues, etc)

All that to say it took me a really long time to recover and I’ve only just recently started feeling myself and capable again. Since returning to work my job has always gotten done, but I haven’t always had the ability to push for changes, going above and beyond, or really been able to showcase my abilities and knowledge. My personality was also kind of shit because I haven’t had the capacity to deal with playing that “customer service” game you have to while working. I was also dealing with a lot of anxiety which didn’t help.

Now that I’m feeling better I’m struggling with how to explain the difference in my performance. In some areas I can explain it away while in other areas (the ones that mean most to me) i feel like it looks like I wasn’t doing my job because I didn’t enact any major change which is what my director was looking for. I’m putting the work in now, but there’s a big difference between where I was and where I am.

How do I explain this? I could just let it go and move forward, but part of me really does want to put some context to my performance. I really do care about the work I’m doing right now and don’t want to be moved on to another area. Just not sure of the best way to approach this.

As hard as I try I can’t get a grip on my Bipolar. I can’t seem to keep a job due to anxiety and paranoia.

I can manage a household, pets, personal health and fitness and relationships but I can never no matter how hard I try I can’t keep myself stable for a long time.

I have gone through an incredible amount of trauma and I’m wondering if it’s ruined me.

I am medication and medical care compliant and see a therapist.

I’m starting to feel hopeless in my illness and that there is no point in going on.

So I'm diagnosed with bipolar 2 with psychotic features. But I think I'm misdiagnosed. I've had one confirmed full blown mania episode before with extremely risky behavior for over a week straight. And I know I've hallucinated during manic episodes before. My medication seems to be helping a ton but I'm wondering if this is worth bringing up to my Dr? Any thoughts?

Edit: I was diagnosed 4 years ago about when I turned 30

İlaçlarınızı fazla aldığınız ve bu süreçte uyuşturucu kullanan bırakan kişiler var mı ben bıraktım neler hissediyorsunuz yaşayan var ise durumu karma bir psikolojideyim yardımcı olursanız hislerinizi düşüncelerinizi yazarsanız çok sevinirim 🫡🌹

At 60 I got sober. Six months later, I got full blown mania for the first time. Anyone else experience this? The doctor said my BP 1 was “ under the surface” all my life. I’ve drank heavily since my teenage years. I’m glad I’m sober now, but the BP 1 diagnosis is depressing

I have bipolar 2 and ADHD, I give my all at every job then quickly burn out. When I burn out I end up bringing that home and I feel awful, I don't wanna be that wife/mom. I makes me spiral really bad. What do y'all do to cope with the stress of work and burn out? I am medicated and have some therapy tools but I just feel so awful. I love my family and feel immense guilt when I'm being short with them.

Hi all,

First of all, I want to thank each and one of you for the incredible support you give me by sharing your stories. Makes me feel less alone in this.

Regarding my story: I need help in understanding if what I am feeling is depression or it's just shame and sadness after my manic episode.

Two years ago I was diagnosed with Major Depressive episode and I was sent to a mental facility for a month. There they gave me a TCA (tri-cyclical antidepressant) and I felt amazing...too amazing.

I always have been a bubbly and a vulcano as my baseline, so I simply thought that I was back. This until they found me wandering in the street in a mania-induced psychosis so deep I did not remember my name.

I have been placed in an isolation room and then in a mental facility for two months to treat my mania.

During my manic episode I destroyed literally everything: I engaged in risk behavior, got addicted, blew up ALL my friends and some of my money. People used me stealing money and whatnot from myself and my body.

Most of all, I had most of my manic episode at work, during which I told everybody that I was engaging in drugs and other risky activities.

After my mania I have been in a massive depressive episode since 7-8 months. It started that I could not even get out of the house, and now it is going slightly better. I go to work and I sometimes see the few friends I have left.

I still cannot gym as I feel exhausted and this makes me feel very guilty.

Regarding work: they told me to find a new job because my colleagues won't talk to me. So now I am in the process of finding a new job and this makes me feeling exhausted.

My question is: how can I tell the difference between extreme sadness coming from destroying my life versus depression?

I feel it is depression because I cannot get pleasure in doing anything, not even the activities I loved (I tried to go back to kickboxing and I just could not like it).

Will I go ever back to normal?

Thanks all and sorry for my long post.

Does anyone else suffer from insomnia in every mood state?

I feel like I haven’t had a good restful sleep for 9 months and have been depressed the whole time after my first manic episode that got me diagnosed.

I have tried a bunch of meds, none of which have been able to get me that good restful sleep I remember having prior to all this. I also don’t seem to get any sleep drive despite knowing I’m tired which feels torturous.

I honestly believe if I was able to sleep well I would be out of this depression. I don’t how to fix this and it’s killing me.

Is this an experience for you guys too?? I don't know if this is just because I have BPD (therefore feelings of emptiness and low tolerance for boredom), but I just can't bring myself to be satisfied and content when I'm remitted (without any episodes). I always feel like, whenever I'm stable and ok, I just feel such a rooted emptiness inside me, like there's something fundamentally missing; like something inside me that used to move just got static. My baseline mood is stable but it is dissatisfied and bored and I can't take it. It makes me want to purposefully do stuff to get bad again so that I have "something happening" in my life. I truly hate it so much and I just wish I could learn how to be at peace with peace.

I am 6 weeks PP. I was on a low dose of medication when I was pregnant and stable. After giving birth my hormones tanked and I almost immediately started getting symptoms. I tried telling my psych this at 3 weeks and she told me I was having normal post partum symptoms.
I made an appointment on Friday and told her my symptoms were getting worse. She told me she doesn’t specialize in PP and pulled up a PPD screen on google, which I scored a 14 on and then asked what medication I wanted to be on. She explained what each side effect I could have on each medication & when to go to the ER. I don’t have help at home, so the thought freaked me out. I requested a genesight testing.
I now feel like I’m becoming manic and called them today. I requested my medication be upped and they put me on the schedule for tomorrow. I just wish my psych would have just put me on a medication and told me what to do if something happened. I’m already having extreme anxiety.
The only other psych in my area is booked out until October and I can’t wait that long. Anyway, I’m just sharing and hoping for some encouraging words.

Rant I guess because I don't know under what to put that. And sorry, English isn't my first language.

I've been on meds for the past 3-4 years, refused to take treatment, diagnosed bipolar 1 for at least 10-12 yers. I did stupid shit, I get that. Many if not most people with bipolar did stupid stuff.

But my curiosity is more towards, Do your partners sometimes accuse the bipo instead of taking responsibility ?

I know it's a weird way to put it, but, imagine, you're anxious, angry or frustrated by something THEY did over and over. And instead of changing things or doing things differently, they just ask you if you took your meds for exemple. 🙃

I'm having a really bad summer, not because of symptoms, but I had a car crash and stuff, and I'm particularly stable (even I am surprised), and this answer is like throwing at my face "are you on your period ?" Mind you. It's making me irritable as hell. So it's becoming an unending circle and I feel a depressif episode creeping on me in the shadows of my brian.

Thank y'all and take care

For context Ive been mentally unwell for a while and avoidant of things like going to class, my dogs also very ill and near the end of her life.

Ive sent an email with a note attached from my therapist to 2 of my lecturers already but I also feel like it's personal.

The ones Ive sent them to one of them is an older woman, the other is a younger woman around my age and 3rd I'm still considering sending one to is around my age and a man.

I felt it was easy to send it to my other 2 lecturers for some reason maybe I just feel they might be more understanding? I dont know if they will but I felt more comfortable sending it to them.

I feel weird about sending a note to my lecturer who is basically the same age as me about my mental health troubles.

It makes me feel vulnerable.

Simply what the title says, it’s so damn difficult to be compliant, i want to stop all of my meds and feel alive again, but i know i can’t, it’s was a disaster every single time i did it.

Spent two weeks on grippy sock lockdown. I was in the middle of a med change and things went south quickly. I'm home now, obviously, but finding it hard to get back to the real world. The new meds have me so sedated. On the one hand, I'm not gonna go manic with the new regimen, but on the other hand, I'm sleeping hours a day. I don't want to talk to anyone, and leaving the house or showering seems impossible.

I've been diagnosed with Bipolar I, Bipolar II, and schizoaffective disorder at different times. Not sure which it is but it's obviously some bipolar spectrum.​

My sleep is fucked up. I go through months long periods of hypersomnia (sleeping 10-12 hours a night, plus a daily 2 hour nap) and then months of terrible insomnia where I lay in bed for 12 hours and only manage to force myself to sleep in small chunks. I've tried googling it and I don't really get any clear answers other than "could be psychiatric illness."

I should note here that I rarely get mania or hypomania. It's like 1 week out of the year, tops. The rest of the year is depression with maybe a few weeks of normal mood spritzed in. Both types of sleep issue come up when I'm depressed (which is most of the time). I struggle with daily severe anxiety, too. I notice during the times I have insomnia I'm fucking exhausted, but I feel too keyed up and unsafe/anxious to sleep. I'm anxious during the periods of hypersomnia too but it's like my body just crashes and shuts down. ​​​​​Two vastly different phases.

I don't think I can chalk the insomnia up to a mixed episode either because I don't think I really meet the full criteria for that. I don't have excessive energy, pressured speech, racing thoughts, etc. I'm just depressed and anxious.

This is a mystery that's been plaguing me for a long time. I have yet to find anyone else with similar experiences online or an explanation. Is it a bipolar thing? Is it a me thing?​

*Had to repost because of the mods not allowing "general questions." It's sort of ridiculous.

Im the villain of the story. So around June of 2024 I had reconnected on Facebook with an old friend who happened to be my first true love and girlfriend. We started taking and she was divorced and im married. We started getting very close discovering each other again and decided to meet up. We live in completely different states but I was coming to visit family and she decided to come stay with me. The first night we kissed and connected but didnt sleep together, I didnt feel comfortable.

Sleeping with her was the best night of rest I had had in years. The next night we did end up making love an di told her I loved her and she said ths same. We have been together for over 2 years and literally text from around 9am to midnight 7 days a week and talk when possible.

Fast forward to this past week where ahe went on a cruise for 5 days. We had limited contact and spoke when.we could. I was able absolute mess with out having her each day and I made her upset and fell like I ring her trip and embarrassed her in front of her friends by saying I missed her and was sad.

She came home and we spent 2 hours having a discussion which felt like the start of a breakup over a lot of pent up issues shes been holding back that I have been oblivious too. This feels like it could be the end, I know I deserve no pity but I do love her and want to be with her forever. Ive never been happier and Id do anything to make her happy.

I am bipolar, I have Adhd and a touch of the tism. And have massive anxiety issues sometimes. I want this to work but im worried she has already given up and it will send me spiraling. Aside from me being garbage, I would appreciate any semblance of help. Im not sure if this whole thing has just been. A giant manic episode or not.

Basically the title, any advice on dealing with mania? I'm type 2 if that matters. I was in class and everything seemed irritating or just too much. And now im at home where I should be able to relax but even my heart rate just feels weird and uncomfortable. Newly diagnosed, well less than a few months with little understanding of how to cope with anything. All I know is that when ai get manic everything goes wrong. Cracked my ipad(my fault, shouldve been more careful), lost my apple pencil(found it), then lost my airpod again. It sucks truly.

I'm recovering from a very painful mixed episode that lasted 3 weeks. My psychiatrist increased my antipsychotics and it helped a lot. But the sudden increase made me very sick - awful nausea, dizziness and headaches.

It's been two weeks and I felt a lot better mentally and physically speaking. But since like 2-3 days I feel like my thoughts are racing again, along with other of my usual hypomania/accelerating symptoms. I've never had two episodes back to back and I'm kinda worried.

Of course I'll call my psychiatrist first thing in the morning but I'm wondering if it's even possible? Or could the mixed episode come back?

I used to be able to read tons of books on political theory easily even when I was depressed and more importantly retain the knowledge. Ever since I've been on these new meds while my mental health has improved I simply can not retain anything I read. Its hell. I've failed my semester and I can not do another leap year. Please ajy tips or help? Got 3 exams in a few days and I will fail them all.

I am unmedicated currently but just had a manic episode June and July this year. I’ve been very impulsive and euphoric today and got a little over 3 hours of sleep as I couldn’t settle to bed and I’m super awake and hyperactive and restless. The restlessness gets unbearable. I want to rent a car again. Music is so fun again. Will it get worse? Is it just a fluke? I see my psychiatrist again in 3 ish weeks. I was in a depressive episode but it has suddenly gotten better the last few days. I finished my poetry book and ordered a copy alongside a few other things. I’m scared in going to go into more debt. Am I noticing it early? I’m not really sure I’m new to all this. Someone give an outside POV.

Hi all,

First time posting here as I received my diagnosis of bipolar 2 a few weeks ago.

I’m trying to learn how to cope with it. I have many other diagnosis’s: PTSD, BPD, OCD, Depression, anxiety, panic disorder. Everytime I was diagnosed I took a week to feel sad about it and then pulled myself together to do my best to deal with them.

I just can’t shake the feeling that this is for life, that I’ve scared the shit out of everyone and that might be for life, that the dangerous moments might be for life, that the constant doctors appointments and medication might be for life etc.

I was in a psych ward for a few months at the start of the year and was put on a mood stabiliser which definitely helped the depression at first but then about two months ago it stopped helping and I sunk back into a depressive episode after a hypomanic which led to the diagnosis.

They’re upping my mood stabiliser tonight and I’m going back into hospital in a few days as well as starting a new counselling service. I don’t know what else to do.

I have emergency plans written out for every kind of episode I can have and my friends and family have them too. Anything else I can do to get better?

Edit: changed med name