Is my daughter bipolar?

I'm new to this forum. I'm wondering if my 22 year old daughter is bp. I'm wondering if anyone can give me some insights or pointers. Her behavior worries me. For starters, she's addicted to shopping. She spends a lot of money on clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc. which she may never wear and which she can't afford. She is full of energy, always has to be doing something. She's very stuborn. I can't reason with her. She seems loud. She seems overly confident. There doesn't seem to be any limit to what she can do. I believe she sleeps OK. She's not depressed, just very active. I'm worried because my husband is bipolar and she has a lot of his traits.

Nobody here can diagnose, not even me :>). Seek professional input for that. Your daughter seems to have some of the characteristics, but having endured my share of depression associated with bp, she also seems to me to be lacking a vital characteristic of the illness. As the name suggests, I think there needs to be two ends to the spectrum (viz. mania and depression). If you have not done so, you might ask her if she periodically suffers from depression- her take on that might be different from yours. For example, almost nobody suspected me of suffering depression during my teenage years- my mom thought I was merely "moody".

Nevertheless, her father's diagnosis is a troubling indicator- you might want to make a studied comparison. I'm sure bp affects different people differently- I, for instance, have little problem with shopping during hypomania, even though it is a fairly common symptom.

Hi

I absoluteely agree re seeking professional advice - this needs to be done in order for her to get a full, professional assessment as to what is going on. She does have some symptoms that could be BP in origin but they are also caused by other things too which is another reason why she needs to be assessed ideally. The family history is something to take seriously and mention to the Dr if you can persuade her to go. I think that talking to her and saying you are worried and would she consider seeing a Dr is the way forward. I hope that things get sorted out for her

Cracked

Thank you for your replys. It means a lot. You guys are right. It's best if I was able to mention my concern to her and encourage her to talk it over with a professional. Bipolar is a very touchy subject in our household. According to my husband, he is not bipolar although he's been taking meds for it for 10 years. In his case, his bipolar symptoms (mania and depression) only really showed up in his late 30s. He had always been on the overly confident and boderline agressive side. I didn't realize at the time that perhaps his behavior might have been clues. I didn't know anything about bipolar. I suffer from depression myself so I can relate somewhat to the depression side. Although from what I read, the depression for bipolar sufferers is much more severe. I can remember my husband being so depressed he would lay on the couch sleeping for days and being almost unresponsive. His manic episodes have been challenging as well. He is a good person so I stood by him. It hasn't been easy emotionally and financially. That's why I keep a close eye on my daughter and am worried as well. She has so much of my husband's personality and behavior. I could be totally wrong of course. Anyway, thank you all for your expertise in this department. I may need further advise in the future. Thanks again.