Bipolar disorder

What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that involves having mood swings called depression and mania.

People with bipolar disorder might experience one feeling more than another. How they’re feeling might change quickly, or happen after weeks or months. There are different types of bipolar disorder, but only a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose whether someone has it.

There are different types of bipolar disorder, and some people with bipolar can see or hear things that other people don’t, experience. This is called psychosis.

It’s natural to have changes in mood or times when you’re feeling better or worse, but if your feelings are hurting you or stopping you from living your life then it’s important to get support.

Find out more about bipolar disorder and its symptoms on the NHS website.

Mania and manic symptoms

Symptoms of mania or hypomania include

feeling extremely elated or full of energy
making irrational decisions.

When someone’s experiencing mania, they also might take more risks or behave very differently to other times.

Get more information on the symptoms of mania on the NHS website.

Depression and depressive episodes

Symptoms of depression include feeling extremely low, sad or hopeless most of the time.

Get more information on the depressive symptoms of bipolar on the NHS website.

Psychosis and hearing voices

Psychosis is a mental health condition that causes people to have very different experiences of reality from other people.

Someone with psychosis might:

hear, see or sense things which other people don’t
have jumbled or paranoid thoughts, including worries about what other people may be thinking about them
experience muddled speech

Lots of people might have these symptoms but not suffer from a form of psychosis.

Hearing, seeing or sensing things that other people don’t doesn’t necessarily mean you have psychosis or a disorder like schizophrenia. Talking to yourself or listening to your thoughts is different to hearing voices which are out of your control. Most young people who hear voices don’t have these conditions as the symptoms can be triggered by lots of different things.

Only a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose a psychotic disorder.

Living with psychosis

Whether you've been diagnosed with psychosis or not, there are some things you can do now to help manage the symptoms.

Visit your doctor. If you’re worried about forgetting what you want to say, why not visit Docready to make a checklist before you go?
Keep a diary. You can write about things that make your feelings worse, and think about how to cope if it happens again in the future.
Create a plan for when you’re feeling unwell. Include things to help others notice when you’re struggling and what support you might need.

4 things to remember about bipolar

About 1 in every 100 people will experience it
Only a specialist doctor can diagnose if you have bipolar
Bipolar disorder affects people differently
It’s okay to ask for support, even if you don’t have a diagnosis.

Find out more about bipolar

Getting help and support

Experiencing symptoms of bipolar can be upsetting, and you might be worried about what’s happening.

There is support to help you find ways to cope and feel better.

If you think you might have bipolar disorder, it’s important to visit your doctor.

Your doctor is there to help you get the right support, and is the only person who can diagnose you.

Seeing a doctor

Whether you’re thinking about visiting the doctor, you’re waiting for support or you’ve been diagnosed, we’ve got advice to help.

Every GP surgery is different, but you can find out how to make an appointment on their website.

If you phone to make an appointment, you can also ask about their confidentiality, and whether you need a parent or carer to go with you.

Before your appointment, use DocReady to make a checklist or keep a journal of how you’ve been feeling, so you don’t forget anything when you talk to your GP and can show any patterns in your moods. It can also help to write down any questions you might have.

Your doctor might speak to you on the phone or ask to see you in person, but you’ll be told that when you make you contact your surgery.

What your doctor might do or say can depend on what’s happening, but they can talk to you about how they can support you in the future.

Getting other support

There might be times when your doctor will refer you to see someone else for support, or you have to wait for an assessment. It can be difficult waiting, but you’re not alone.

Remember, you can always:

Keep talking to your GP about how you are
Talk to an adult you trust about how you’re feeling
Speak to Childline for support any time
Call 999 in an emergency

Getting a second opinion

It’s always okay to ask for a second opinion if you don’t think you’re being taken seriously or that your doctor isn’t listening, but your GP doesn’t always have to allow this.

If your GP isn’t willing for you to get a second opinion, it can help to ask the reason to understand more about what’s happening.

It’s important to remember that your GP should always be there to support you. And that you can ask to change your GP if you don’t feel comfortable there.