Once had a psychiatrist phone me very irritated because I had diagnosed a teeanger as potentially bipolar. Fortunately, I had seen her hypomanic, and run a hypomanic questionnaire at time – adequate documentation despite his hostility (guy needed a holiday). Chronic depression and a history of suicide in family helped as well. Here is a simple checklist taken from the 15 point checklist:
The use of 15-point hypomanic checklist in differentiating bipolar I and bipolar II disorder from major depressive disorder
Hongbo He, Guiyun Xu, Bin Sun, Huiyi Ouyang, Yamei Dang, Yangbo Guo, Guodong Miao, Catherine Rios, Hagop S. Akiskal, Kangguang Lin
General Hospital Psychiatry (2013) in press
(pubmed doesn’t know it exists yet…)
1. Less sleep.
2. More drive and energy.
3. More self-confidence.
4. Increased social activity and work motivation.
5. Increased physical activity.
6. More plans and ideas.
7. Less shy, less inhibited.
8. More talkative than usual.
9. More puns and jokes, faster thinking, laughing more.
10. More irritable, impatient.
11. Increased consumption of coffee, cigarettes.
12. Increased consumption of alcohol.
13. Extremely happy mood, over-euphoric.
14.Increased sex drive, interest in sex.
15. Over-activity (e.g., shopping, business, telephone calls,
travelling, driving, visiting people).
Comment – if this will save you from rampant psychiatrists better use it…