How do you know if you are bipolar?

Mindfulness. Be aware with how your carry yourself day to day. How I started to become aware of my bipolar was through writing. I started by writing how I felt and then starting a mood journal. I would right three times a day about how I was feeling. Do this for a month and then see what you end up with. If you feel that you have bipolar then talk with a professional.

I found out through research and reading books on different types and extents of anxiety/depression. My girlfriend also discussed with me how I seemed to become a different person every now and then. I began to be mindful of when I started to go downhill and realized when I would go through a manic episode and become careless. Be careful when reading and researching and check your sources.

Bipolar tendencies increase under stress. Mood swings will escalate. A bipolar person will become more and more out of control. People are usually diagnosed with bipolar during a crisis such as a divorce when their out of control state becomes obvious to the community. At that point a psychiatrist may be called in to observe their behavior in a controlled setting such as a hospital psychiatric ward. After diagnosing them as bipolar they will most likely put them on medication and schedule appointments for them to meet with a regular psychiatrist on an ongoing basis. The doctor assigned to them will make sure their life is following a normal course and that neither the lives of the bipolar patient nor his/her family are in jeopardy.