Shedding Light on Cyclothymia

Prognosis.  I remember reading a psychological journal few years back that some cases of bipolar disorder often misdiagnose as major depression.  I have been expose to the case of bipolar disorder and personally caring for a love one suffering from bipolar disorder.  So I thought I was quite aware of Bipolar and Major Depression.
          Since I was a teenager I have experience recurring depression symptoms.  Like any normal teens, most of the time I wanted to have fun and make fun with my family and friends to the point of irritating them at times, the term in Tagalog is "makulit".  They have known me as always having a positive mood.  But then, there's another side of me, they rarely catch me if I'm in this horrible feelings of hopelessness and unexplained tearfulness.  I would lock myself at home and shut myself from the outside world because I don't want to burden others with my condition.  I would only casually tell people I trust, and know would understand, of my recurring depression.  I have manage to escape the environment that triggered my intense sadness in past few years. I must say,  I'm better now.  Of course, as we mature and learn how to cope with difficulties some challenges also intensifies.


A Sudden Hit of Confusion.  At times I was convince that I have clinical depression due to the intensity of the symptoms I experience, yet in other times when I'm in a positive mood I seem to accept that it is just a regular phase and I did not felt the need to consult a physician because I always manage to survive my struggles.  One moment, while I was talking to a friend, I uttered "I think I have a mild Bipolar Disorder" and my friend replied "huh? What?".   I just smiled, shrugged and say "If  it is existing" I always knew that I have not encountered the term, yet.
          Occurrences of restless nights and a rapid cycle of mood swings that lasted for weeks is confusing me.  A rollercoaster-like feelings of ups and downs, most of the days with positive feelings that lasts for only matter of hours then back again to having low energy and restlessness.  Makes me really really think that my mood experiences can be in between major and manic depression but not severely enough to fall in the categories of the said afflictions. So I did some research and stumbled the term "Cyclothymia". I felt relieved.


What is Cyclothymia? Cyclothymia is a chronic bipolar disorder consisting of short periods of mild depression and short periods of hypomania(does not include delusions, hallucinations and other psychotic features), separated by short periods of normal mood. Individuals with cyclothymia are never free from symptoms of either depression or hypomania for more than two months at a time. The classification of cyclothymia was changed in the DSM from Personality Disorder to Mood Disorder and it affects 1% of the population.  Though cyclothymia is a mild (to fairly severe) disorder, it is so only relative to the severity of Bipolar I and Bipolar II disorders.  Cyclothymia can completely disrupt the life of an individual and create personal chaos. In their continual oscillation of mood, they never know from one day to the next what to expect. 


This could be it but I still have to make sure and set an appointment with an expert physician.