How do you get diagnosed with bipolar disorder?

Bipar: Symptoms of depression alternating with episodes of mania/hypomania, sufficient to cause distress or to interfere with daily functioning.

See a psychiatrist: A psychiatrist is best trained to diagnose & treat this disorder he or she will take a history may order tests to rule out other problems--it's helpful to have someone along who has observed the patient as well.

Complicated: BP symptoms include racing thoughts, grandiosity, mood swings, agitation & sleep probs. Many good meds (e.g., symbyax, (fluoxetine and olanzapine) lithium & depakote) are available to treat bp. Careful diagnosis is essential since BP and adhd often co-occur and share symptoms such as inattention, distractibility, sleep probs, impulsivity & risk taking. BP is also often misdiagnosed as unipolar depression.

Psychiatric Eval: A pyschiatric evaluation is essential for accurate diagnosis of bipolar disorder as this diagnosis is both easy to miss and easy to diagnose incorrectly.