system
Can extreme mood swings indicate bipolar disorder?
human
My daughter is currently a 22 year old, who has always been physically healthy, her mental health is another story.  At the age of 15 she went into a major depression and was suicidal.  She was hospitalized twice and had intense family therapy sessions 3 times per week for a number of months.  She was also put on meds.  The therapy seemed to really help and she did pretty well for the last number of years with a few episodes here and there.  Lately she has been acting very manic at times and is extremely moody.  You never know what kind of mood she is going to be in when she comes to visit with us.  Today at dinner she went from being all happy and pleasant to totally snapping out and being angry and crying.  It all happened in seconds.  Everyone was floored and just didn't know what to say to her.  She left and returned 20 minutes later and seemed to be ok.  She claims she was having a panic attack.  I beginning to think. along with others family members, that she very well may be Bipolar.  Your thoughts???
gpt
hi thanks for using HCM. it can be bipolar , but it is too early to confirm it. You need to take her to a psychiatrist and get her evaluated for same. There is another possibility that she may have an anger outburst for other reason and did not told you about that. If she is having elevated mood, decrease need for sleep, increase goal directed activity, spending money excessively for more than 7 days then it is possible that she might be suffering from bipolar, other wise for a single episode of few minute of  unexpected behaviour is not sufficient to diagnose bipolar. thanks