Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a condition which can be observed very easily by family or friends due to the sudden or abrupt abnormal behavior shown by the individual with bipolar disorder. However, it is very important to gather the recommendations and support from your own medical professional in addition to doing more research on what exactly to look for in individuals with bipolar disorder.
Information on criteria for testing or diagnosing bipolar disorder can be found at websites such as the American Psychiatric Association's “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)” (http://psych.org/MainMenu/Research/DSMIV.aspx). This set of guidelines is the criteria which medical professionals use in order to help them diagnose the individual’s symptoms and condition experiences are indeed those of bipolar disorder.
The diagnosis of bipolar disorder through a medical professional usually involves a series of physical (physical examination), psychological (a psychological professional will ask a series of questions in order to help assess an individual’s mental state, in addition to any past psychiatric history the individual, or their family, may already have) and lab tests (such as blood and thyroid disorder tests) to help them figure out if what is being experienced is indeed bipolar disorder.
Once these task have been completed, the current bipolar disorder symptoms can be observed through the observation of the extremities of the patient’s manic and depressive episodes.
One item to point out is that many individuals who may seem to be experiencing symptoms of bipolar disorder may actually be experiencing the affects of depression only and therefore be diagnosed, not as bipolar, but that of univocal disorder as they do not experience the manic or hypomanic episodes normally experienced with bipolar disorder.
In addition to this common type of misjudgment, there are many other types of disorders which many may mistake when self-diagnosing for bipolar disorder such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder (which can indeed seem very similar to bipolar disorder), as well as other mind-altering experiences such as drug abuse and more.
Bipolar disorder can be caused by a number of factors such as a major life change, high levels of stress, in addition to simply having parents who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or experience the same symptoms of bipolar disorder.
It is very important, in either case, to consult your medical professional in order to properly test and diagnose for bipolar disorder in addition to researching other information available to you to help educate and provide support for any bipolar disorder symptoms currently being experienced.