Tell me if I've got more than aspergers. (Bipolar, Schizo)

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Okay, so were talking about bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I've got a bit of evidence on both sides, and I really didn't think about either of em till now, since I've learned a few new things about the conditions.

Let's start with bipolar,

I get on long periods of being completely emotionally stable, I love helping my family, I make friends I'm productive... etc.. I also am very good at being neutral towards women and am very good at respecting them without being like "look at dat ash!! !" or even let consider thinking a dirty thought about them
There's also this girl I liked for a really long time, and I do a real good job of forgetting her and moving on.

Then sometimes I get up in the morning, think I'm going to have a regular day and I'm suddenly snappy at everyone, don't wanna do a single crap for my family because I'm not in the mood (But I do it anyway because I know it's good for me). I get super emotional, and start talking to that girl again, and become emotionally blatant towards her. This can tend to be bad and good, but anyway, you get the gist. I end up crying myself to sleep nights here and there. I become extremely cynical and make somewhat insensitive remarks to people who are needy or get on my nerves. And I go pretty girl crazy all-in-all. Like girls are just downright hot sometimes.

Keep in mind, I'm not feeling sad when all this happens, in the bad state, when left alone I am in a state of emotional neutrality or absence.

This is all over periods of about 3 to 4 week intervals. To me this looked like mild bipolar-disorder. Which I kinda hope I'm wrong about. It'd be good to know otherwise though. I don't like going from "HELP MY FAMILY! LOVE EVERYONE!" to "That's nice Mom... go show your husband." and I always notice the transition, I feel bad for being a snappy douche, and it drives me nuts!! !

Anyway, now schizophrenia!!

Ok, so there has been a period in my life where I was so down on myself my life felt like I was watching a pretty dull movie that wouldn't get any better. I felt emotionless, well except sadness, which wasn't that great going through.
But yeah, life seemed pointless, and eventually I got it resolved and moved on, but I still have a sense of emotional neutrality. I can be happy/sad/etc... and I feel like I have purpose now. but like I said earlier, when left alone or even provoked I tend to be emotionally absent.
Anyway, on the crazy side, in middle school I had the absolute positive belief that everyone could read my thoughts and I was in something like the truman show, where everyone had telepathy except me, and I was just like a science project, where everyone could hear my private thoughts. This... was... such.. a pain... like it SUCKED!! ! When you won't let yourself think certain things, and try to think "normal" or "steadily" or "like everyone else with everyday things." I know know much better... hahaha. Yeah I'm glad I got over that.
But nowadays I developed a sense of being watched... which isn't anywhere near as inhibiting, I just always feel like I'm being watched. Like you know when you can tell someone is watching you when they're not even in your view and you look, and there they are looking at you? Well in this case, it doesn't often leave me. I mean whenever I'm driving I feel like there's always someone in the back seat. When I'm in the bathroom I feel like I realllly not alone at all, which is a really big pain in the butt. You could figure why. I basically never feel alone. A while back, in my early high school days I was so convinced I wasn't alone that I tried waving my arms everywhere periodically (But in private) trying to find some invisible character lurking around me. I completely believed there were either invisible people spying on me, or I was in a state of some sort of dream, where I had a completely fake idea of the world, and everyone in real life was just watching me go around and pretend everything was there, when really I had no idea where I was. That was kinda scary. You could also assume why. I've done the wavy-arm thing for so long now it's a habit I'm trying to break but I definitely believe that stuff isn't real, and it's all in my head, but I TOTALLY feel like I'm never alone. So yeah. I don't see things, so... yeah.

Ok, gimme your opinions!! I need opinions!! ! And don't judge me! I doubt anyone will, but I'm just used to saying that to people!

I can't diagnose you (no one can over the net) but I can offer my own advice. I don't know if you have bi-polar but from what you have said schizophrenia wise, I would probably say you don't have that. People with AS can be prone to paranoia due to our difficulty with theory of mind/reading facial expressions and body language. I get quite paranoid. Heck I've even had hallucinations before but apparently I do not have Schizophrenia, I am just prone to psychotic breakdowns. If you are really worried though, go and see a specialist.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

Hard to know. That dull period you mentioned sounds like depression - not feeling any emotions is called anhedonia. I get that during depressive episodes.

The schizophrenia thing... it's possible you may just have had an overactive imagination. I used to sometimes convince myself I was being watched when I was younger. But I don't know. Bipolar, again hard to know, it's possible you may have cyclothymia (a milder version of bipolar). If you do have bipolar generally you know there's something seriously wrong because it's pretty extreme (not like just mood swings but like going from complete euphoria, insane energy, etc. to being suicidal/sleeping all day, that sort of thing).

I don't think any of us here is qualified for that, and I would be very wary of asking strangers on the internet to tell you what's wrong with you. It could create needless worry on your part if several people say they believe you have something severe and you don't, or it could give you a false sense of security and you then decide not to see a doctor if several tell you that you are just fine, not to worry about it.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

You sound like me and I'm neither bipolar nor schizophrenic.

Teenager on the internet with no psychological training. Don't sue me for malpractice?

At any rate, you don't sound any more abnormal than the rest of us on here.

For your bipolar guess: I experience the same thing, though I can explain the cyclical nature of low periods with menstrual periods, which you may not be able to. At any rate, when I am hormonal/sleep deprived/hungry/overheated/any combination of the above, every conversation with family turns in to an argument, and I am quiet around friends/classmates to avoid arguments. Actually, I suggest sleeping more during these periods/analyzing your sleep patterns and their relationships to mood. You sound like me when I get <5 hours of sleep/night for a week straight.

As for schizophrenia: while I know less here, you still do not sound particularly abnormal. Thanks to aspergers, yo have the tendency/ability to construct complex worlds/systems inside your head. Your complex systems have tended towards paranoia.

But if you are truly worried, TALK TO A PROFESSIONAL, not the internet.

Just like many have said, there isn't anyone on a web forum who can give you an accurate diagnosis. Only a guess from what someone has experienced or read.

I myself have bipolar, not sure if its type 1 or 2, but some of what you've said sounds similar, although much milder, to what I have experienced.

It doesn't sound like you have had or at least from what you wrote it doesn't sound like mania at all. That's the kind of natural high, almost like your on speed. You would be more talkative with an increased rate of speech, impulsive spending, grandiose thinking, erratic behavior. Mania always comes with an inability to sit still and stay focused, you start one task and then you get distracted and start to do another task and another and so forth but most of those tasks you get started on end up not getting completed and often you get so distracted that the task is completely forgotten. Oh yeah, at least for me most of my tasks are almost completely meaningless but at the time seems like the most important thing there is. With the increased energy there is almost always a decreased need for sleep or in my case, when Im manic I will go at least one night without sleep and sometimes 2 or 3 nights and not feel tired the next day but still riding out the manic high. Racing thoughts are always part of a mania. Generally worse at night but your mind goes from one thought, to another, to another and just doesn't shut off.

There is also a less severe form of mania that is called hypo-mania. Most people wouldn't even recognize it. Hypo-mania is going to share some or all of the symptoms of mania but less intense. More talkative, more projects or tasks taken on, very easily distracted, inflated self esteem, more communication with friends or making new friends, doing things that might be out of the ordinary for you.

Once the mania has faded away, it could be days later or right away, there is always a crash. Kind of like they say, what goes up must come down. After a mania comes depression. It may be, and usually is accompanied by feelings of hopelessness, self doubt, low self esteem, isolation from friends or family, thoughts of suicide or self harm or even going a step further and actually acting on those thoughts of suicide or self harm. Sleep is usually increased and energy levels and motivation is much lower than normal. Its a lot tougher to do the things that normally are easy for you to do. Thoughts are slower than normal and have probably decreased.

What you described with the feeling that your never alone or people are watching you or reading your mind sounds to me just like plain old paranoia. Sometimes its worse than others but I almost always am sure that someone is watching me or listening to me and sometimes, although rarely now, it feels like there is someone reading my mind and all my thoughts.

If your concerned enough, or just curious do a Google search for DSM 4 or go to your local library and they should have a copy. It goes through all of the different mental disorders and has all of the criteria you must meet to be diagnosed with bipolar or schizophrenia or any other disorder. I think its a good starting off point to get an idea of what a specific disorder looks like clinically. This is the book that psychiatrists use along with other tests or questionnaires to determine whether or not you have one disorder vs another. If you do take a look at it and bipolar or schizophrenia sounds like you remember to not take it as fact because most people will look through the DSM and find a handful or more of things they meet the criteria for, but only a doctor is qualified to make a determination.

Weather you look at the DSM or not I would recommend seeing a psychiatrist so that he/she can make a professional assessment and from there can prescribe medication if necessary.