You could look at the diagnostic criteria online and see if you meet it:) that’s what I always do, whether it be for self diagnosis purposes or checking up on my current diagnosis.

I have both long lasting manic and short, the first Dr I seen diagnosed me manic depressant, not sure what exactly that means, I do know my depressive episodes can last a long time (possibility of having both?), and as for the bpd I was told that because I self harm I have bpd, I do not have mood swings throughout the day I know that for sure my live in ex and exfwb both have extreme mood swings throughout the day, witch cause serious issues ( aside from thinking my ex for sure but possibly both are narcissists) I know that when I get close to my cycle I do get more emotional but not ups and downs, mainly irritation,agitation,frustration,impatient, and the oh so original crying fits. ( also have looked at alot on Google but feel it's lift me with more questions then answers.

to build off of what's already been said, BPD and bipolar 2 are definitely misdiagnosed as one or the other. but a lot of people with BPD do have a comorbid bipolar 2 diagnosis, so it's not impossible, or even rare, to have both. there's a lot of differences between BPD and bipolar 2. they just are more hidden, and the similarities like unstable mood are usually the first and "loudest" symptoms seen by other people and doctors. here's some things you'll see with BPD that aren't really seen in only Bipolar BPD: • unstable moods that are not nearly as long lasting as seen in Bipolar 1 or even 2. they can be as short as minutes, and on average, for me at least, the longest mood swings last no more than a few hours. • externally and conflict sensitive. this just means that symptoms or episodes are most frequently triggered by outside stressors. the most common being interpersonal conflict. • unstable identity and self image. with BPD you may have trouble or an inability to describe yourself. you don't really know who you are, what you like, what you want to do with your life, what your personality is, etc. or you may think you know who you are, but it constantly changes. • severe abandonment issues. this is seen as kind of the "hallmark" symptom in BPD. you will be afraid of being abandoned and left by the people you love, which may cause you to act out to keep them in your life. this can take on a lot of presentations. • chronic feelings of emptiness. you may feel that something is missing inside you. you may have episodes in-between the mood swings where you feel absolutely nothing, or are very numb. you may then try to partake in risky and potentially dangerous activities to feel something. • black and white thinking. especially in relationships. you may start a relationship with someone, and at first you see them as perfect. they could do no wrong and they'd never hurt you ever. they are the one. but they could do something that hurt you or something you didn't expect them to do that you don't agree with, and your opinion of them completely flips. they're awful, and they were always awful. you hate them. you want to cut them off and never speak again. • dissociating when stressed. self explanatory. if you don't know what dissociation is, it's basically like a disconnection to yourself or the world around you. you may not feel like you're real or you exist. or that other people and the world around you is fake. you have trouble feeling, thinking, and concentrating. you just "aren't there". • self harming. this can obviously be seen in a lot of other disorders and is in no way exclusive to BPD, but it's just a lot more common in people with BPD. and we may have different motives for self harming than those without BPD. • suicidal behavior. again, is in now exclusive to BPD, it's just more common. • hard to control and intense anger. you may find you snap at people a lot, or get extremely angry and frustrated with things other people don't seem to react as strong to. another thing with BPD that distinguishes it from Bipolar is that it's more or less a "stable" condition. you don't really have extended periods of remission or of feeling fine. I like to refer to personality disorders as being "stably unstable". the symptoms are present in most areas of your life and are there more often than they aren't. hope this helped at all. sorry for this being so long! but also... if your doctor diagnosed you with BPD JUST because you self harm, that is... very irresponsible and just flat out wrong of them. it's possible your doctor may be hiding the reasons they decided to diagnose you for, but if that isn't the case, I'd find a new doctor and get a second opinion.

We are all learning more from each h other, I think you both were very well spoken. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you so much, and I do feel some of the less noticeable things for bpd, but I know for sure it's not main diagnosis, and the Dr I see now idk I don't like her just because when I first started going to where I ho the first dr went on maternity leave, her and I agreed that tapering off of Xanax 1mg but leaving my .25 alone for the panic,she also stated that she knows bipolar is main diagnosis and that the next Dr I'd be seeing would help figure out a definite diagnosis, that was almost a yr ago, and this Dr took off both Xanax and has not helped with a definite diagnosis, I also don't know why I didn't go back to seeing the original Dr but it kind of upsets me.