is it possible for a 13-14 year to be bipolar?

[vrandiel]

With the internet its pretty easy to find out about disorders, symptoms and there are also quizzes that can, to some extent, verify whether or not you are bipolar.
I need to know if what I'm facing right now is plain depression caused by hormones or something more.
I've always been that kind of person who doesn't care about what's going on and I never used to get sad or angry at anyone but my brother [sibling rivalry ^ω^]
But I've noticed that my moods are now getting more and more pronounced.
Sometimes I get really really happy and feel like I can do whatever I want. This makes me careless. My grades have gone down  and I even feel like cutting myself [not for suicide] just for the fun of it. I have done it.

At times I get sad for no reason, other times it's because I have work which I don't want to do. I think of suicide but I don't want to hurt my family and friends just  to escape this labyrinth of suffering. I've cried myself to sleep. I can't sleep. I toss around for ages until I  get sleep
When I do get enough sleep. Like 12 hours of it, I feel sleepy throughout the day.
I don't want to tell my parents because they'll get worried and I don't wish to draw attention to myself.

[persephonedemeter]

Sorry, my stylus is skipping. I can spell, but obviously, I didn't proofread well. I hope what I said mkes sense. I meant cutting can develop into a compulsion. You have enough problems. If you can make a point to avoid coffee to keep you from sleeping, you can make a very conscious effort to stop the cutting.

[persephonedemeter]

Hi. You should stop the cutting now. Honestly, because it cn turn into a bad coping mechanism and it oesn't do any good. ISi started cutting too early on my diagnosis, and as soon as the nurse practitioner in the hopital saw it, she  got angry and simply sid to stop ot immediately. She didn't have to tell me why. She knew I knew it wasn't a good idea. It starts out as a way of relieving aniety, anger, frustration, stress or mixed up feelings, but it turns into a compulion afterwards. I've seen long time cutters with old scars and fresh cuts and bandages all the way up their arms and legs. They had bad body image before they cut, and the body image got worse with the scars. I don't  get the fun part of it. How is it fun?

If you lready feel the school psychologist is a waste of time and you on't think you are going to get the answers you need, don't waste your time building up courage to see that person. I think if you are having serious issues like depression and suicidal thoughts, and it is affecting your life so much, it would be better that you build up the courage to talk to your parents about it instead, and tell them you need professional help and guidance. They are responsible for your welfare, and it's part of good parenting to worry about you. What affects you, affects them also, whether you tell them or not, and it goes vice versa. I think if one of your own parents or brothers and isters were going through the same thing you are going though, you would hope and want them to get good help and feel better about it. It can be talking to a therapist or a doctor who specilizes in young people your age.

I've seen mental health programs in hospital l just for teenagers. So, yes, mental illness doesn't discriminate as far as age is concern. You can tke ll the quizzes on the net and read it kinds of books on it, but it's a little hard figuring out if it's hormones or something as severe as bipolar disorder. There are a lot of conditions and disorders out there that are possibilities. There re physical signs as well as pychological signs and what is happening in your life and how you are dealing with it all play a part in the finl diagnosis.

You are too young to  take care of yourself and get treated independently without your parents' support, unless a judge granted you an independent minor and you are capble of supporting yourself fianancially and responsibly.

To get treated, whether it is talking to a therapist, doctor, getting meds or whatever, the person who legally supports you and is considered your guardian has to sign off on the consent to treat you. If I was your parent, I would want to know what you wrote here, so I can help you go through what you are going through. I suspect they lready know something isn't quite right; though, I have known some parents who are pretty blind or just on't want to deal with it ame hope it's  "just a phase."

Just remember that problems are solved best early on before they take root...especially health problems. I know some kids who started therapy when they were 6 years old, because they had some symptoms you described, and their parents knew it was over their  heads and didn't wait to see it get really bad or have it resound in their kids to affect the rest of their lives, and Ai mean, everyone's lives, not just your own.

[weaver71]

Unfortunately school counselors never helped me much, hopefully they are better now and where you live. It seemed as if their job, in my experience, was to make me function and work toward a career. That didn't help. I went to school counselors for disciplinary issues, and they never mentioned bipolar once. If the school counselor doesn't help, then you may want to reconsider talking with your parents and finding another. CBT is my favorite(cognative behavioral therapy).

Coffee is a drug, a more mild one. I can drink a cup a day, but if I am manic at all, then I avoid it completely. The reason I asked about drugs is because you are at the age many start experimenting and with mood issues, it is very tempting to self-medicate, I did. I really encourage you to avoid street drugs, not because I am against them, but for your sake. Lots of people can party and move on, but if you are bipolar, they can be very destructive fast. Keep us posted on how your school counselor is, we can keep trouble shooting until we find you some answers.

[vrandiel]

Well, what you said has got me thinking. I do go from feeling like I can do anything to feeling absolutely hopeless and I get headaches when I'm down.
I don't feel like hiding under sheets but that's only because I  space out all the time so I don't notice what's going on.
Drugs? Does coffee count? I try my best to stay away from it because I value my sleep.
I'll try gathering up enough courage to go talk to the school psychologist. It's hard to talk to her because she is too much like the other teachers

[weaver71]

Puberty is considered by many to be the earliest diagnosis can be established. Unfortunately, puberty makes our moods off the charts anyway, so it is difficult to know for sure. My parents said it was just puberty and I needed to 'man up.' I wish I had gone to a therapist as a teen. Even if I wasn't bipolar, at least I would have learned coping skills and better ways of thinking. Anyone benefits from that. May have helped me not get into drugs. If feelings are so strong and are out of control, whatever the causes, you gotta deal with it. I just started taking my bipolar 1 seriously this last year. I knew about it for 20 years, had my first episodes at about 14. I went through lots of self medicating with drugs over the years, opiates being by far the worst. I stabilize and am relatively fine a long time sometimes, but it comes back. I like CBT, Cognative Behavioral Therapy. It helps me to see the world more as it is, rather than tunnel vision or all-or-nothing thinking. You are describing some bipolar symptoms, do you feel really great and you can do anyone with rapid thoughts that eventually collapse and crash into depression and feel like nothing is possible? Do you hide under the sheets, or want to? How do you sleep, too much and too little sometimes? Do you use any drugs? Tell us more of how you're feeling and we can tell you what we think, but I would find a therapist, if not a psychiatrist. We can't control how we feel, but we can control how we respond, most of the time anyway.