Signs that you may have an Undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder
There are several possible causes for an undiagnosed bipolar disorder. For example, sometimes the symptoms are just too mild for a mental health professional officially to classify it as bipolar. Other times, a mental health professional will misdiagnose bipolar disorder as depression or as an anxiety disorder because they only take part of the symptoms into account. At still other times, friends and family view the symptoms as part of an individual’s personality. (For example, an individual might be artistically inclined and have his most creative periods during his manic episodes. The individual and those around him might simply believe that this mania and the subsequent depressive period are simply part of the emotional life involved in the creative process, rather than see it as a condition in need of treatment.)
The Characteristics of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is the current name for the condition that psychiatrists used to call manic-depressive disorder. The condition is now believed to be a “spectrum” condition that is a disorder that can have a range of intensities. The fundamental definition of the disorder, however, recognizes a condition involving mood “swings” between states of depression and states of mania. That is, the person suffering from bipolar disorder is a person who has states where he or she is extremely down and depressed and then states where he or she is extremely energetic and active. These states are usually, though not always, separated by a “normal” period.
Although there can be clues in childhood, bipolar-disorder usually first manifests itself in late adolescence or early adulthood. Untreated, bipolar disorder can be devastating, often leading to suicide or death from other risky behaviors.
Sub-Threshold Bipolar Disorder
Often undiagnosed bipolar symptoms fly under the radar because the symptoms are too mild for mental health professionals to diagnose them officially as full-fledged bipolar disorder. Psychiatrists and the mental health community has come to call this condition sub-threshold bipolar disorder. A person suffering from sub-threshold bipolar disorder will typically have many of the symptoms associated with a full-fledged sufferer of bipolar disorder, but he or she will have it at either a much less severe intensity, or a briefer duration.
Usually this means that a sufferer of sub-threshold bipolar disorder may go into a state of intense activity and euphoria, but it will last for only one to two days. This milder condition also usually means that they don’t suffer from intense hallucinations during their manic phase.
The depressive stage may also be less intense with a touch of insomnia and a lack of appetite but no suicidal thoughts. Given the mixed message, it is not surprising that many physicians and mental health professionals might not properly diagnose the actual condition when presented with these symptoms.
Getting Help
The health services of the federal government estimate that as many as one in two sufferers from bipolar disorder never get it properly diagnosed. Most cases of undiagnosed bipolar disorder are properly sub-threshold cases.
Others may be associated with creativity and in some cases with individuals striving to achieve a major goal. Bipolar has both a genetic and an environmental component. This means that the treatment should probably also be two pronged, having both a pharmaceutical and a therapeutic component.
Regardless, however, of the intensity of your bipolar disorder, you can get help. There are many new medications being developed and new treatments that you can use to help you alleviate the symptoms of bipolar disorder. There is no reason just to suffer through these symptoms waiting for your condition to get worse. Get a consult with a mental health practitioner and see if he or she can’t set you up for an initial evaluation.