What does being bipolar feel like?

I have been diagnosed with bipolar almost 10 years ago. Having bipolar is an illness just as diabetes is an illness. There is a lot of stigma around mental illness and we need to be ambassadors for ourselves and fellow-bipolar diagnosed people that it is nothing to be ashamed of. Someone once told me that having bipolar does not define who you are but is a perfectly manageable illness. Therefore, never say "I AM bipolar" (it is not who you are), rather say "I HAVE bipolar" like you would have told someone you have diabetes (you aren't diabetes). I have read in a book that having bipolar feels like this (and I have experienced it as well): Think of driving a car. You keep your foot steady on the accelerator but the car keeps speeding and you are trying to brake, but the brakes don't work. It doesn't matter what you do, the car will not slow down. Cops start chasing you and your loved ones are yelling at you to slow down. That is normally the mania stage. The opposite, again driving a car and you put pedal to the metal but the car keeps slowing down and nothing you do will make the car go any faster. Eventually other drivers pass you yelling and shouting at you for driving so slow but you cannot help it. This is the depression hitting you. Having bipolar messes up all your emotions and your moods flip faster than a burger on the grill. Normally you don't realise the symptoms until someone close to you like a family member or friend draws your attention to it. Unfortunately we experience feelings we cannot put into words. We feel alone (depressed) and long to go out with friends, yet when they ask we decline to rather stay at home. On the other hand, we feel invincible - like nothing can touch us - and tend to do impulsive things we later come to regret (mania). Having bipolar is difficult but with therapy and medication (yes medication) can help you to "nomalise" these episodes of mania and depression. There are so many medications on the market that it is important to work with your therapist to find the right combination for you as well as the right doses. It takes time, but do not ever give up finding the right medication and dosages. Every human being have their "off" days and happy days but not to the extent that we experience it. Taking medication and going to regular therapy sessions, the illness is managed to, like other people, still have "off" days and happy days but in a fairly normal margin. In conclusion, don't be ashamed, seek professional help, accept support from your family and friends and never say "I Am bipolar" - "we HAVE bipolar". I wrote this from my heart because I HAVE bipolar and I'm not ashamed of it. Yours in recovery, Piekkel ;o)

"Bipolar", Well to be precise, usually people down with this disorder suffers from varied anxiety levels, moodswings, sleeplessness, hallucinations, overthinking, suicidal thoughts (at extreme level) etc. Their is no particular age group for this disorder, people of any age group can suffer from this disorder. Their are many factors which can lead to this disorder, i.e., work pressure, isolation, indifferences in relationships, improper self-care, strive for perfection, improper sleeping hours, domestic abuse or any form of it, lack of appreciation, etc. Well this can be treated by taking proper care of that individual by understanding their level of mindset.

People with bipolar experience both episodes of severe depression, and episodes of mania – overwhelming joy, excitement or happiness, huge energy, a reduced need for sleep, and reduced inhibitions. The experience of bipolar is uniquely personal. Bipolar disorder can cause your mood to swing from an extreme high to an extreme low. Manic symptoms can include increased energy, excitement, impulsive behaviour and agitation. Depressive symptoms can include lack of energy, feeling worthless, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts high or irritated mood. more energy and greater goal-driven activity. elevated self-esteem or grandiosity. reduced sleep. higher than usual frequency of talking. rapid speech flow and flights of ideas or racing thoughts. being easily distracted.

While I can't speak for everyone, I sometimes experience psychosis during mania and depression. I get paranoid delusions and occasional hallucinations. For me, the worst part of this is the inability to decipher delusions from reality. I end up questioning my every thought. Personal relationships with friends and family become strained, because I find myself over-thinking everything said between us. People begin avoiding me when they realize I'm going through one of my phases again, and I can become rather difficult. So I'm faced with having to deal with loneliness. I battle with the decision to reach out, because I really don't even know what's a real problem in my life and what are made up issues in my head. I usually end up making the right choice to reach out. That's what keeps me stable.

being bipolar is to feel the intensity of everything, not just happieness and sadness but all the inbetweens of every feeling with a name, being bipolar is to feel so intensely that you are connected to others and all their feelings or to feel so alone like the sharpness and rawness of the world is cutting you just by existing it and you have no words to explain it and when you try to find them people can't relate to them, being bipolar is to feel so alive your nerve ends tingle and there is possibility in every exciting moment and it is also to the hopelessness and lonelieness of an unbearable weight that will insist on stealing on you every single second until all you wish for is a deep dark UNFEELING sleep, being bipolar is to be tired of fighting, very very tired, its giving up but still living and then its feeling the tiny flame buried so deep inside of you flickering so softly that despite everything it has not gone out, being bipolar is coming back from a lot, sometimes from near death in a lot of cases and realizing how strong you are to have survived, to be here, to continue, being bipolar is having so much to offer the world because you feel so much and therefore emphatise with so much. Being bipolar is to curse all you feel and to be grateful at the same time. its paradoxes and contradictions and a big fucking mess but in the end it is not YOU, you are you and what you do with these feelings, with these experiences, how you interpret all you've been through and how you live your future is all totally unique to you and nothing to do with a diagnosis.

Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. Bipolar disorder is a confusing condition, especially for someone viewing it from the outside. If you have a friend or relative living with bipolar disorder, this person may be reluctant to share how they feel. Because this can make it hard to know how the illness affects them, reading first-hand accounts of other people living with bipolar disorder can help you understand the condition from their perspective.

Being bipolar can feel like one of two things: really happy, or really sad; there is no limbo. Regular people have their up and down stages for a few hours, maybe a day, but bipolar people have those stages for weeks and months. It can be painful at times, but as long as you're seeking treatment and taking medication, all should be well!

When you are bipolar there are months/weeks where you feel depressed and completely low and that you are worthless but then suddenly it can switch and you feel euphoric in ways, its hard to explain in one comment.

Well, it feels like you're an emotional wreak. Sometimes you'll be super happy, and other times you'll feel like locking yourself away from any person at all. You might even want to yell, and think you need to manage your anger better, but it's too hard to truly do so. When I was 13, my parents thought it was just average mood swings of a teen, but it wasn't. I guess you could compare it to a never ending emotional roller coaster of puberty (just the mood swings).

I do not know but extreme mood swings is part of it. Ask a professional to confirm if its bipolar. Google the condition and see what you find on it and see if it applies to how your feeling but always double check with a professional