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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is It Possible To Have Bipolar While Having General Anxiety Disorder And Major Depressive Disorder In The Past?

ive been dx with general anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder in the past, I am taking Ativan 1 mg twice dly, I am experiencing mood swings, and wondering if I am bipolar as well, I have researched the bipolar s/s and they do not seem to fit my mood swings.
Tue, 28 Jan 2014
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Psychiatrist 's  Response
Greetings !

Well while Bipolar disorder may develop in a person who has past history of anxiety and depressive disorders but you should also take into account the fact that based on a single premise of mood swings one cannot be diagnosed as Bipolar disorder as there need to be a cluster of symptoms present together for formalization of this diagnosis.

I am mentioning below some core symptoms and signs of Bipolar disorder which will help you to understand better about this condition.

1) Elevated, expansive mood , also called as infectious gaiety.

2) Inflated self esteem and increase sense of self worth.

3) Over confidence in one's abilities.

4) Delusion of grandiosity and feeling superior over others.

5) Over-familiarity and dis-inhibited behavior.

6) Hyper-sexuality and promiscuity

7) Decreased need for sleep ( sleep only for 3 or less hours) but still one is able to get up with full energy

8) Hyperactivity

9) Flight of ideas and pressured speech that is oen's ideas are produced in the mind at a fast rate so much so that one's speech is not able to complete one topic but before that jumps to another topic thereby making the speech incoherent and incomprehensible.

10) Poor judgment and lack of insight, investment in doomed business ventures and going on spending sprees.

11) Mood swings

So you see you got to have few of these symptoms to be able to get diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, one single symptom does not support the diagnosis.

I hope this helps.

Regards
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Is It Possible To Have Bipolar While Having General Anxiety Disorder And Major Depressive Disorder In The Past?

Greetings ! Well while Bipolar disorder may develop in a person who has past history of anxiety and depressive disorders but you should also take into account the fact that based on a single premise of mood swings one cannot be diagnosed as Bipolar disorder as there need to be a cluster of symptoms present together for formalization of this diagnosis. I am mentioning below some core symptoms and signs of Bipolar disorder which will help you to understand better about this condition. 1) Elevated, expansive mood , also called as infectious gaiety. 2) Inflated self esteem and increase sense of self worth. 3) Over confidence in one s abilities. 4) Delusion of grandiosity and feeling superior over others. 5) Over-familiarity and dis-inhibited behavior. 6) Hyper-sexuality and promiscuity 7) Decreased need for sleep ( sleep only for 3 or less hours) but still one is able to get up with full energy 8) Hyperactivity 9) Flight of ideas and pressured speech that is oen s ideas are produced in the mind at a fast rate so much so that one s speech is not able to complete one topic but before that jumps to another topic thereby making the speech incoherent and incomprehensible. 10) Poor judgment and lack of insight, investment in doomed business ventures and going on spending sprees. 11) Mood swings So you see you got to have few of these symptoms to be able to get diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, one single symptom does not support the diagnosis. I hope this helps. Regards