Signs of bipolar

john32170386

Hi
Just looking for an opinion, not a diagnosis.
If somebody in their early 20's is depressed and unhappy because of physical disability, then gets happy and upbeat and the next minute berates me and says excessively I am a **** and do understand and I am uncaring cruel, backstabbing, and do not understand her or her partner and I asked too much of her partner(who is my son), so much so that he is tired and fed up, yet only 2 weeks ago told me how grateful she was that helped her with her pip tribunal and a host of other stuff and that I was the only one who supported her, understood her, helped her and was more supportive than her family.(apart from her partner)?

john32170386

He is also her carer, she has got a number of physical problems including Addison's disease, since her last operation which affects hormones she has got server mood swings, but I wonder whether bipolar could also amplify that.

Tori_Scope

It sounds as though your relationship with them is quite difficult at the moment @john32170386. 

It's worth noting that there are lots of different things that can cause mood swings, not just bipolar disorder

Rethink Mental Illness have some information about bipolar disorder on their website, which you might find helpful to read if that's something you're concerned about.

Bipolar disorder can be a life-long mental health problem that mainly affects your mood. It affects how you feel, and your mood can change massively. You can experience episodes of:

• mania, and
• depression.

You may feel well between these times. When your mood changes, you might see changes in your energy levels or how you act.

Mania

Symptoms of mania can include:

• feeling happy or excited, even if things aren’t going well for you,
• being full of new and exciting ideas,
• moving quickly from one idea to another,
• racing thoughts,
• talking very quickly,
• hearing voices that other people can’t hear,
• being more irritable than normal,
• feeling much better about yourself than usual,
• being easily distracted and struggle to focus on one topic,
• not being able to sleep, or feel that you don’t want to sleep,
• thinking you can do much more than you actually can,
• make unusual, or big decisions without thinking them through, and
• doing things you normally wouldn’t do which can cause problems. Such as:
  
  • spending a lot of money,
  • having casual sex with different people,
  • using drugs or alcohol,
  • gambling, or
  • making unwise decisions.

Hypomania

Hypomania is like mania but you will have milder symptoms.

Depression

Symptoms of depression can include:

• low mood,
• having less energy and feeling tired,
• feeling hopeless or negative,
• feeling guilty, worthless or helpless,
• being less interested in things you normally like doing,
• difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions,
• feeling restless or irritable,
• sleeping too much or not being able to sleep,
• eating less or over eating,
• losing or gaining weight, when you don’t mean to, and
• thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts.

Psychosis

Sometimes you can have psychotic symptoms during a severe episode of mania or depression. Symptoms of psychosis can be:

• hallucinations. This means that you may hear, see, or feel things that are not there, and
• delusions. This means you may believe things that aren’t true. Other people will usually find your beliefs unusual.

Have you spoken to her about her mood, and how it's been affecting you? 

If you're worried about her mental health, I'd suggest that you encourage her to speak to her GP in the first instance. They should be able to explore with her what the next steps could be in finding out what might be causing her to feel and behave this way.