I don't know if I have cyclothymia..or indeed anything...

I'm possibly cyclothymic.
But mine last on average 5-7 days of depressive (3-4 of which I can't do anything but sleep and cut)
and about 3-4 days of happiness. I don't get manic but I get motivated and feel as though anything is possible and get alot of work done and sleep less and feel so happy. But the depressive periods are getting longer and more intense while the happy periods are spaced out more so it's very difficult to cope.

I'd like to get officially diagnosed but I have a fear of opening up and telling anyone I'm struggling for fear of rejection...

Yours sounds more like bipolar because of the quick mood changes? x

I thought I might have met the criteria for cyclothymia, but feel unsure now. I think I could possibly have ultra-rapid cycling bipolar, but I need to go to a specialist and plan to soon.

My moods can literally go from hypomanic for 30 minutes to an hour and then depressed (quite severely sometimes) and then back to "average" or "normal" again, and hypomanic episode will not occur again for a long time (unfortunately. I love the feeling) and tend to fluctuate between "average" and depressed most of the year. I never knew that I had been describing hypomania for years until I read the DSM.

However, this is where the DSM-V doesn't provide any answers. According to the DSM-V I meet the criteria for bipolar I, because I have had at least 1 severe mixed episode (it only lasted a few hours thought, but felt very scary and the most confusing state of mind I have ever been in) and when I drunk alcohol for the first time in my life a few years ago I had what I have only recently come to realise as a manic state, however that, again, didn't last very long and only lasted a few hours and I awoke to a very depressed mood that lasted a while.

Peace.

Kattv2 wrote:Most people seem to have mood swings over days or weeks...mine happen throughout the day. I start off in the morning pretty much normal, then I get a little hyperactive which then either goes into being more hyperactive or to feeling down. Then usually I get hyperactive again and then I get depressed.
I rarely get mixed moods but they do happen...but they don't last very long at all. I think they last about half an hour-an hour. I read somewhere that you don't get mixed moods if you have cyclothymia. I'm very confused. Is it 'normal' to be like I am or is it a disorder? Or is it hard to tell from my description? I know you can't give me a diagnosis or anything, but I'd really like someones opinion who knows what they're talking about without seeing a doctor. None of my friends understand how difficult it is to control my moods. I think they're all getting fed up/annoyed/bored with me.

I'm feeling the exact same for the past month or so, there is something terribly wrong with my mood and I feel constant irritation and keep running away from people and obligations by excessively sleeping. I have no idea if this is something most people experience but I feel like it's starting to disrupt my everyday life.

Did you see a psychiatrist/therapist in the meantime?