Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Hello, my primary diagnoses are paranoid schizophrenia (which I disagree with) and ocd (obsessive-compulsive disorder) but I also tend to suffer recurring bouts with depression, alternating with a mild mania. I'd like to know if I could be categorized as bipolar.

The depression isn't a feeling of severe depression, as I take antidepressants already for ocd, but it's more like a feeling of low energy, being unable to get myself to move from one place or position, very little motivation, and is accompanied by joint aches and pains. I sometimes feel weak. I can't seem to get going with my day and spend a lot of time on the couch, obsessively thinking about the same topic or watching TV (that's the ocd, the obsession). If something needs to be done--if I think I should walk across the room, pick something up off the floor and put it away, for instance--I sit there thinking about it, but can't seem to muster up the motivation to get up and do it.

The mania is wonderful. I have lots of energy and motivation, get lots of creative ideas (even late at night--when I get so excited over them I often spend a couple of hours working it through, instead of sleeping, staying awake way past midnight) and once even wrote a full-length novel in less than 2 weeks. I'm happy, my IQ seems a lot higher, can think and converse with people with ease and enthusiasm.

I don't get crazy when I'm manic, which is why I say it's mild, but when I'm depressed I often get suspicious and "paranoid" and get lots of ugly thoughts in my mind. The periods are about 2 weeks or more, alternating; I think the depressive phase usually lasts longer. It's not related to anything else going on in my life, as far as I can tell.

Can I be bipolar, and if I am, what can be done? (I plan to discuss it with my psychiatrist at my next appt.)
Posted on 05/10/08, 04:05 pm