Not Bipolar?

[alvaa]

Okay, so I have been seeing a therapist now for about 6 months and he says that I have anxiety and panic disorder. I work in a mental health center and I talked with a therapist and she says that I am not bipolar. I do not want to be bipolar, so please help ease my mind. I have taken a bunch of the tests online and never was I diagnosed as being bipolar. However, for about 6 days now I have been very very very depressed. I am afraid of death so suicide never enters my mind at all, but I have a "there's nothing left" attitude right now that I do not enjoy having. I guess I really don't have a question, just more of a "get this off my chest" thing. Mammo has been helping me on the depression boards. I made an attempt to make an appointment with my medical doctor because he is the one that put me on Cymbalta and all of a sudden it feels like it is not working. The depression sure is stirring up my anxiety levels.

[Paxiled]

If your therapist is a psychologist, they are actually better qualified to make diagnoses than psychiatrists.  Psychologists study much more psychology than do psychiatrists, who are essentially medical doctors who take a short course in psychology usually taught by a psychologist and a short course in psychopharmacology.  So again, a psychologist is probably better qualified to make a true and accurate diagnosis than your average psychiatrist because psychiatrists diagnose by strict categories determine by insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry, whereas since psychologists don't dispense meds they are more likely to just treat your problem and not have to come up- with an arbitrary label.  That being said, you don't sound bipolar, you sound depressed and anxious.  Psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies have developed a growth industry in different kinds of bipolar in the last few years, but there's only one true bipolar, which used to be called manic-depressive illness.  Now, if you get angry or irritated, a psychiatrist is likely to diagnose you with some kind of bipolar and give you antipsychotics when they're not really necessary or even appropriate.  Dr. Gould, when he was still on the mental health forum, used to tell people not to worry so much about the diagnosis and worry more about what the issues are and try and deal with them.  Of course, if your therapist is a social worker or some other licensed counselor and not a psychologist, then they might not be able to distinguish true bipolar from other things.  If you had true bipolar, you'd know it, is my guess.  

[alvaa]

Thank you.

I definitely always need my sleep. I am not much of a talker, all though I do like to talk it out when I have a panic attack. My sexual drive is a whole lot less since way before my divorce 3 years ago. I am a tight wad and I don't spend money. I am a wuss so I don't take a whole lot of daring risks. It's just sometimes (not very often but happening this week) I can have 5 minutes where I am really depressed, and then like 10 minutes of anxiety, and then 10 minutes of feeling just fine. This cycle has been happening a whole lot for the past 2 days. I haven't had my daughter from her mom since Tuesday of last week. I didn't get the raise that I was expecting last week. The weather is very gloomy outside and it has been for 2 days. This past holiday weekend I didn't do anything exciting. I am just trying to get a  hold to what is going on.

[MMahon]

People with bipolar disorder experience periods of mania or Hypomania where they become euphoric, have a lot of energy, need little sleep, can be very productive, talkative, sexually promiscuous, spend excessivley, take daring risks, and so on.  However, they do experience depression, which sounds like what you describe here, and it seems a lot worse to them when coming off the 'highs' mania causes.
Although therapists are skilled and can see the symptoms of the depressive illnesses, I personally would not leave this type of diagnosis up to them.  You should schedule an appointment with a qualified psychiatrist and let him give you a diagnosis and work up a proper treatment plan with you.  Good luck and take care.