How to break it to my parents that I have Bipolar Disorder?

Hello, I'm 15, a freshman in high school. I'm fairly certain I have bipolar disorder. I haven't been diagnosed with it yet, but have the majority of symptoms, including suicidal feelings and an attempt. My first depressive episode was last summer, a couple weeks before school started. I've been confiding in a friend of mine about this stuff, but he's dismissed it as just hormones.

I think I got it from my Mom, who my family has long suspected of having it, and I have seen her pick-up pamphlets about it. But she's never been diagnosed. I just would like to know about how to break it to my parents that I think I have bipolar disorder, and want to see a shrink. I'd rather not mention the suicidal part, as I'm afraid they'd overreact. I just want to convince them to take me to a shrink. Its that, or I wait until I get my Driver's license to drive to one.

If you think you have Bi Polar go see your GP and ask them or ask them for a referal to a child psychiatrist. Mental health professionals do not like diagnosing minors with mental disorders and even more so do not like putting them on medication as it takes a huge toll on the human body.

I have Bi Polar and have constantly been to different psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors and mental health agencies. In your case, you best hope you don't have Bi Polar. it is self degrading and belittling. If your family have a strong history of mood/personality or mental health disorders then you have a much higher chance of having one yourself, especially if it is in your immediate family. Also, if you have the genes it doesn't always necessarily mean you will get it, but usually if you have a huge turnover in your life which isn't for the better, or a traumatic event or stress, it can trigger the Gene and you will develop the symptoms over time and they will usually only worsen, especially if you leave it untreated.

Of course, you will have to tell your parents about your worries, especially if you are diagnosed with Bi Polar. It is simply impossible to keep it from people who you live with in most ways, or your family. Otherwise it will lead to your family being ripped apart and them thinking your a bad person. It's what happened with my family. If you are worried about their reaction, more so, to the suicidal thoughts or tendencies, leave that out. It doesn't have to be said. Tell them you are worried for yourself and you having been feeling yourself lately, describe the symptoms you have ( of course leaving the suicidal bits out if you feel its best ) and tell your mother, as woman are usually more compassionate, you think it best if she take you to a doctor to see what they have to say. If she says youre just being silly and worrying too much, tell her you can't differnitiate between certain things ( only if this is true, but that is a symptom of Bi Polar) dont tell her you think you have Bi Polar, just describe the symptoms, usually parents will deny there is anything wrong with you if you claim to feel you have a certain disorder, as more mature people know, such disorders like Bi Polar, Schizo affective disorder and Schziophrenia are lifetime disorders which are severely difficult to deal with, so usually they deny it and stuff.

So yeh, and if your parents refuse to believe you, you can go to see a doctor by yourself, I live in Australia and if youre on a health care system, you can usually get your appointment for free and it will be bulk billed. Im assuming you live in america, as you said freshman?, so i dont know what the health system is like there.
All the best, i hope you dont have Bi Polar, i wouldnt wish that upon anyone. Depression or such disorders like that have a better outlook than Bi Polar or schizo affective disorder.

Well think of it this way. Telling your parents that you have Bipolar is alot easier then telling them that you have cancer or AIDS!!! Having Bipolar is really no different then have diabetes. It is nothing at all to be ashamed of. I am just trying to help you look on the bright side. BTW....Be good to yourself and be sure to stay on your meds.

Just tell them that you have problems your having trouble dealing with on your own and you want to see a doctor. If your mom has been having problems it seems reasonable that they would believe you and want to help. If they don't you might consider the school counselor.

It is hard to self-diagnose, so don't. You may think you do, but maybe you don't. Some episodes last a long time and there are tons of symptoms. You most likely can't be happy than mad at one point, it usually lasts longer for a period of time. I thought I am bipolar but you never know .. just talk to the doctor when you have your next appointment. Or just tell your parents you THINK you might have it..tell them you feel weird or something. But I'm pretty sure your parents, especially our mom, will notice it and since she has not said anything maybe you don't.

People confuse "mood" with "emotion". If someone goes from happy to sad (emotions), they think they have had a mood swing. Wrong, they had an emotion. Bipolar is not about having having emotions like anger, sadness..... nor is it about changing from one emotion to another really fast. It is about slowly changing moods..... A mood affects everything from your energy level, emotional response (which emotions you experience), sexuality, thought process, self esteem, appetite, whether or not you enjoy activities, etc....... Bipolar is about moving between a really high mood (mania) and a really low mood (depression) every couple of weeks or months.

What you describe sounds like hormones and NOT Bipolar.

Here are some of my personal examples of the extremes. My moods generally last for a couple of months then there is a short period of being normal before I start to swing the other way

The low - Do not care about anything, stop showering, stop cleaning house, crying a lot, sleeping 14 hours a day, want to die but don't have the energy to plan it, hating yourself for every little bad thing you have ever done..... feeling guilty about everything you have done while manic, knowing that everyone else hates you too. I feel like my mind has stopped working, thoughts are dulled, can't read..... just lay there like a dead lump of nothing.

The High 鈥?these are symptoms as listed online followed by my examples

* FEELING EXTREMELY HAPPY OR IRITABLE* Like you just won the lottery or like your boss just cut your pay in half so he could give his daughter a raise but the feelings go on and on for weeks or months.

*INFLATED SELF ESTEEM* Believe that everyone loves you, everyone knows how smart, funny, pretty, sexy, you are. Think you are so good you can do anything.

* REDUCED NEED FOR SLEEP* 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night for weeks or months and you are never tired.

* TALK FASTER AND MORE THAN USUAL* Ramble on and on but the talk may be disjointed because thoughts are going by so fast you can't get them out fast enough. It's called pressured speech.

* BE MORE ACTIVE THAN USUAL* Needing to run 10 miles a day when you never used to even jog. Taking up 5 new hobbies.

* RACING THOUGHTS* Can be seen as confusion. It's very confusing because your thought go by so fast and you have no control over them it's like having 10 people all shouting at you at the same time.

* BE EASILY DISTRACTED BY SIGHTS AND SOUNDS* Ohhhh bright and shiny things. :) Because you have ceased to even try to listen to your own thoughts.

* ACT IMPULSIVELY, DO RECKLESS THINGS, REDUCED INHIBITION, SPENDING SPREES* Spending the mortgage money on furniture, buying 25 books about penguins because wouldn't it be cute if they could be a colony,* DRIVE RECKLESSLY* 120 mph down back roads with the radio blaring and not really paying attention to the road because of all the bright shiny things, *GET INTO FOOLISH BUSINESS VENTURES* cashing out your 401k to invest in a worm farm or going deep into debt so you can gamble because you know you will win, *HAVE FREQUENT, INDISCRIMINATE, OR UNSAFE SEX* like sex with strangers (without a condom) or with your sisters husband or your husbands sister. Suddenly decide you are bisexual because the opportunity for twice as much sex is there...... Oh my I didn't know I was into BDSM before... tie me up and flog me baby.

I am Bipolar 1 and while the other types of bipolar may not be as bad they are still much more extreme than the online symptoms portray. The above are things I have one while manic and that's just a few of them.