Bipolar Disorder: It’s Not a Mood Swing by Robyn Tamanaha, LMFT
The word bipolar gets tossed around a lot and oftentimes, it’s misused. One way it’s misused is when the word is used to describe a person who has experienced a mood swing. There are vast differences between a mood swing and bipolar disorder.
What’s the difference?
Everyone has days when they’re not feeling their best, or when they feel different than the previous day. Given certain events or situations, anyone’s mood could suddenly change. A stressful family event may leave an individual on edge or feeling sad. Deadlines at work or school can drain an individual’s energy or patience, leaving them emotionally frazzled, or acting more worried than usual. A person may just wake up one morning feeling like they’re in a funk. This experience passes shortly, and the individual will be able to bounce back to how they originally were.
In bipolar disorder, the shifts in mood that the individual experiences are more severe than ordinary mood swings. The length of time that the mood shift can last can be 4 days, 7 days, or more (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition). The person does not bounce back immediately, and there is a recovery period. In order to uncover whether a feeling is due to a mood swing or is instead a symptom of bipolar disorder, it’s important to look at the details, such as the level of intensity of the emotion and how it’s expressed.
Here are A FEW examples:
Feeling the sad emotion versus feeling in despair, as if it’s difficult to move, or you feeling numb and disinterested when you watch or do things that you used to enjoy
Feeling the happy emotion versus feeling much more confident than usual, like you’re on cloud 9, or feeling giddy
Having the energy to do things versus being super productive and completing multiple tasks with ease and feeling compelled to complete multiple tasks and goals quickly, or jumping from task to task
Having fun and engaging in conversations with others versus speaking so fast that others are having a difficult time keeping track of what you’re saying, others asking why you’re speaking so loudly, or others looking at you in a quizzical manner as you speak
Feeling upset versus feeling so irritable that you become snappy at others, everything seems to irritate you, or you feel so livid that it’s like you have a ball of fire inside of your body
Experiencing some difficulty thinking versus having a difficult time keeping track of all your thoughts that are occurring very rapidly
The symptoms the individual experiences have impacted or made it difficult for them to function in key areas of their life
Why does it matter?
Mislabeling mood swings as bipolar downplays the seriousness of the diagnosis and the experience of individuals who are living with bipolar disorder. To live with bipolar disorder takes a lot of strength and there are many things that the individual must do on a daily or weekly basis to manage what they’re experiencing. Imagine experiencing some, or all, of the bullet points I mentioned above during the same time period. Mislabeling also continues the stigma. Mental health diagnoses can carry a lot of stigma, bipolar disorder included. When people use bipolar to describe a mood swing, it carries the implication that it’s a put down, such as, “That person is so bipolar.” This is hurtful, and whether or not an individual living with bipolar disorder is in the room, it perpetuates the message that it’s bad. There are many individuals who are living successfully with bipolar disorder, have fulfilling lives, and are valued by the people in their lives.
*The symptoms and impairment to functioning that are mentioned are taken from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition
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Disclaimer: This information is being provided to you for educational and informational purposes only. The topics being discussed are meant as a self-help tool for you own use. It is not psychotherapy or counseling. This information is to be used based on your own judgment. If you need to speak with a professional, you should find one local to you and contact them directly.