Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 1/22/2008

Question
Hi Dr. Goldberg.
I'm 19 years old, and I've had ongoing problems with depression and anxiety my entire life. The anxiety is more consistent, but the depression seems to come in random episodes ranging from a few hours to a few months.
Within the last few days, I've realized that I have problems with my mood. Looking back, I've been this way for a while, but didn't realize it until recently.
I just seem to constantly (at least 4 or 5 times daily, almost every day) change my mood from extremely happy to extremely irritable, angry, and/or depressed. My mood *seems* to change based on the events that happen over the course of the day, but I'm not sure if that's the case or if it just changed randomly, all by itself. I also notice that my anxiety seems to be stronger during the 'bad' periods (although that seems normal and doesn't worry me too much).
I've researched bipolar disorders...and other than the constantly changing mood, I don't really feel that I meet many of the other symptoms.
My question is: Based on what I've described, do I seem like I have bipolar disorder? It's just strange because the alternating moods automatically make me think of bipolar disorder, yet I don't meet the other symptoms. It's confusing...any help is appreciated.
Thank you.  

Answer
Hi Patrick . . .

It is both unethical and impossible for a physician to attempt to make a psychiatric diagnosis by way of the internet.

People with frequent mood changes certainly may suffer from bipolar disorder, or they may have another disorder.

The diagnosis of bipolar disorder should only be made by a psychiatrist after he or she has spent soem time with somephe and has taken a complete psychiatric history, done a mental status examination, and ordered laboratory tests.

If you are at least 18 years of age and have had at least one period of depression that was severe enough to interfere with your life, you might try taking the screening questionnaire at:
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.bipolar-screening.html

Best regards . . .
Ivan
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%