Test for bipolar disorder

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Are you wondering if you have bipolar disorder?

Or perhaps you've been diagnosed and you want a second opinion? This quick screening test for bipolar disorder will give you somewhere to start.

This test has been developed by researchers Hirschfeld and others and used by many health workers. It is regarded as reliable, but see my reservations below.

The test is free, and it's completely confidential. We ask for your email address so we can give personal follow-up. You can use a nickname if you wish.

Doing this test for someone else?

This test is fairly friendly to those who take it on behalf of someone else. However, the questions about self confidence, about not missing sleep, about racing thoughts and about concentrating can only be truly answered by the person with bipolar disorder. With this caution in mind, you can take the results along when you accompany your friend to the doctor for a proper assessment and diagnosis.

Pick a good time and share the test results with your friend, and come back together to this website for more information.

Reservations

Any self-administered test for bipolar disorder can miss cases of bipolar (false negative) and it can suggest bipolar disorder in people with other, or no, disorders (false positive). As well, it is not uncommon for people to have bipolar and another disorder! In particular, this test does not address depression symptoms and if you have had recurring depression without mania you also need to be checked by a doctor, as the treatment is not dissimilar to treatment for bipolar, and is usually effective. Further, this test appears to overlook the typical subjective experience of people with some of the mixed states (i.e. elements of depression and mania at the same time)

Before you get started on the bipolar test, let me prepare you for the results. Click here.

Hirschfeld RM, Williams JB, Spitzer RL, Calabrese JR, Flynn L, Keck PE Jr, Lewis L, McElroy SL, Post RM, Rapport DJ, Russell JM, Sachs GS, Zajecka J 'Development and validation of a screening instrument for Bipolar spectrum disorder : The Mood Disorder Questionnaire' Am J Psych 157(11):1875 (appendix 1), November 2000.

Last modified 18 October 2008

This page was written and published by Madeleine Kelly, a bipolar sufferer who underwent undergraduate medical training (University of Melbourne) and who is the author of Bipolar and the Art of Roller-coaster Riding.

Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to Publisher at TwoTreesMedia dot com.

This site and the book Bipolar and the Art of Roller-coaster Riding, the 2nd edition of Life on a Roller-coaster - living well with depression and manic depression contain the opinions and ideas of the author, Madeleine Kelly. The site and the book are intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed. The book is sold with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any other kind of professional services in the book. The reader should consult his or her medical, health, or other competent professional before adopting any of the suggestions in the book or this site or drawing inferences therefrom. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book or site.

Two Trees Media — the Bipolar Experts