Does anyone know general symptoms for this? I’ve tried searching the internet, but I can’t find very much information at all. I want to talk to my doctor about this, but I’m not sure if I’m possibly exaggerating my feelings and really I’m okay. Thank you very much.
This page has some good info:
Congratulations on your 100th post!
You should talk to your doctor if you are at all concerned, if only to get some reassurance. My understanding is that sufferers of bipolar disorder experience periods of mania followed by periods of depression, but you probably already knew that. The mania is generally severe and obvious to people around you; unless someone has noticed, you’re probably not manic. The depression is not the “anxious depression” type, but rather the type where you can’t get out of bed in the morning. The periods last at least several months each, although there is a severe form called “rapid cycling” in which the symptoms are exaggerated and the cycles last only a few days or weeks.
There is also a form in which the mania does not occur; how this is different from plain old depression, I don’t know.
You might feel better to know that it’s normal to experience intensified emotions during stressful times in your life, including adolescence. As long as you’re not acting in a way that is hurting others or causing you to feel a lot of regret, you’re probably OK.
You don’t forget seeing someone who is in the manic swing of bipolar disorder. One person I know with the disorder decided that he was Jesus and decided it was ok to walk down a busy highway since no one would hurt Jesus. Fortunately he was not injured, and was soon stablized with medication.
Besides delusions of grandeur, mental health.net lists the following symptoms of manic episodes:
*inflated self-esteem
*decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after only 3 hours of sleep)
*more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
*flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
*attention is easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant items
*increase in goal-directed activity (either socially, at work or school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
*excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (e.g., engaging in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments)
Manic episodes alternate with major depressive episodes, which are characterized by:
*depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (In children and adolescents, this may be characterized as an irritable mood.)
*markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day
*significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
*insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
*psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
*fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
*feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day
*diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day
*recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), *recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide
There’s a lot more information on the page if you’d like to see more http://bipolar.mentalhelp.net/ the site also explains other forms of depression and mental illness.
Do you ever find yourself: Doing five things at once and not getting any of them done? Wanting to go out right now and sing karaoke naked? Staying awake for more than 24 hours organizing your CDs/updating your website/wrapping a present for your mom/working on your art projects/finishing your 40,000-word manifesto and mailing it to the paper/doing kung-fu moves on the cat/thinking you’re the greatest, most beautiful person in the world/telling your pissed-off friends and neighbors that they’re boring? All at once? Since you were 8 (or 48), has anyone had to physically restrain you from running out into the street naked?
Do you want to die? Is the very sensation of consciousness unbearably painful? Do you consider yourself incurably ugly and worthless? When you think of the future, is suicide the first thing that pops into your mind? Do you have remarkable quantities of empty beer containers in your kitchen?
Do you have any friends who have been diagnosed with mania? Have they ever said to you at a party, “Bob, I think you should go call your shrink right now because you’re acting manic”?
You might think I’m being funny, but these symptoms are really from my experiences of myself and my manic-depressive friends. I hope they give you a general idea of what to look for. If you even wonder (especially after reading this thread) whether you might be manic-depressive, you should see a psychiatrist right away. And if you’re already seeing a shrink for depression, and you ever find yourself doing five things at once or seriously considering the idea of singing naked karaoke, you should call your shrink immediately.
My dad knew a guy who was bi-polar. Some days he was fine, and a normal guy. Other days he was very depressed, and often quite paranoid. He had medicine for it, but he never took it. He also had kidney problems, and died of kidney failure because he didn’t take his medicine for that, either 
Thank you all very much.