text: how can i tell if im bipolar or depressed? i dont know what is wrong with me but i feel its ruining everything.everyday is a different day when i wake up.somtimes i just wanna lay there and not do anything,not talk,eat,shower.and i just lay ther any really not think about anything and that is most days.i have good friends that help me get out and do somthing.if somthing upsets me i cant eat.who ever im around there emoitions kinda affects me.i also have a problem with meeting and talking 2 people.i get scared and really nervous and start to shake.when im with my boyfriend he gets the wourst of me.within 30 mins,ill be happy,sad,angry,wanna be around him then dont want him in site.then i end up drinking to maybe calm my emotions down but dosnt work in the end cause then i dont care about anything at all.i hav overdosed on pills to go to sleep,and ive cut myself while i was drunk.i was in fostercare and dont know about family history execpt one of my brothers has  schizophrenia and  bipolar disease.i just wana have a normal life chances are that if you're cycling that fast you're not bipolar.  ok, so bipolar's a mood disorder and a serious mental illness. it has a strong genetic component, but appears to be triggered environmentally. there are no diagnostic tests for it, just psychiatric evaluation. most sufferers are not diagnosed until middle age, and it takes an average of around 8-10 years to get a correct diagnosis. historically, figures suggested it affects about 0.8% of the population at some point, which makes it about half as common as schizophrenia. in recent years, bipolar disorder has become an 'in' diagnosis, and many more people are being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. as with adhd, this fad may well pass with time, although for the moment many celebrities appear to be 'popularising' it.  it is characterised by episodes of severe clinical depression and mania or hypomania (for definitions of those, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/current_diagnostic_criteria_for_bipolar_disorder ). the extreme end of mania often turns into psychosis, complete with hallucinations and delusions. during manic phases, the person's judgement and perception of reality is severely compromised, leading to risky actions with potentially damaging consequences (financially, sexually and relationship-wise). untreated, episodes generally worsen over time due to an effect known as kindling. untreated bipolar sufferers are at a very high risk of suicide: 20-25% attempt it, and 15% succeed.  the cycles in bipolar disorder are much longer than people generally believe. anyone whose mood changes from minute to minute is very unlikely to be bipolar. bipolar 1 is characterised by mood episodes lasting many months, while bipolar 2 has episodes in the region of weeks to months. rapid and ultra-rapid cycling bipolar disorder is rare, and cycles last days to weeks.  there are many drugs available to treat the symptoms of bipolar (there is no cure). these are either anti-convulsants or anti-psychotics (personally i take both), and the most well known of these is lithium. most patients will go through a number of different drugs before finding one that works for them.