I know everyone else here has put together their thoughts but I cant help but contribute here
There are mental health resources in the western world to help people. Make use of them man. They are there for everyone's benefit. Let people who can assess you offer you this help.
Now just by way of summary, because I think this issue is often misunderstood - here is my contribution to this thread:
Bipolar is a very serious chemical or neuroligical illness. It isn't simply a fashionable label attached to celebrities and other people who don't want to take responsibilities for their lives and their bad behaviour. It isnt just a label, its a real mental illness with serious consequences. Because we can't see it as obviously as someone missing a limb or someone missing their hair after suffering from cancer, mental illness's like Bipolar often seem less real or legitimate to us. Because we cant often see mental illness, we conclude that it is just bad behaviour or that those suffering can control their behaviour. Mostly we can control our actions and behaviour and we have a responsibility both to ourselves and to others to do so. With some things like schizophrenia and bipolar however, sufferers cant.
It's my honest belief that the term Bipolar is so overused now, particularly in the media, that the cynics amongst us have become tired of hearing the term in newspapers and other forums and then ignorantly conclude it is nothing more than a label. These are the same people that will make statements about its "irrelevance" or that "everyone is slightly weird", "there is no benchmark for normality", "we shouldn't be concerned with such labels" etc etc etc. Actually this does nothing to assist legitimate people who suffer from this mental illness nor the people around them that are affected by their loved ones suffering from it. This is not an issue of over diagnosis in Australia or otherwise, - bipolar is simply a problem with brain chemistry and it is as old as almost all other human illness. Manic Depression has affected some of the greatest and most famous people in history. It has become renamed bipolar disorder in modern times because of the social stigma that manic depression had with people historically committed to mental asylums because of untreated and unmedicated symptoms of it.
BPD, on the other hand is a term bandied about this forum as we can see, and is simply a behaviour that is learnt from childhood. It is more common amongst women for some reason and no psychiatrist can explain why although many theories exist.
There is a reason why Bipolar is treatable with medication (well to an extent) and why BPD isn't. It's because Bipolar is a legitimate chemical problem in the brain - in the same way as a blood disease or kidney illness is often about chemical imbalances in their respective bodily systems. It is because its effects are to do with the brain's faulty processing of chemicals, regardless of the sufferers best of intentions or attempts to control it. As it is a chemical problem it acts on its own volition, as appose to other types of disorders that occur because of experiences the person has had in their life. No amount of therapy or maturity will stop a chemical problem in the brain. This is regardless of how dedicated or responsible the sufferer is. BPD on the otherhand appears to be about experiences learnt from things that happened in childhood although not too much concrete evidence exists which is why the medical handbooks have a whole bunch of criteria or checklists for it.
Now it is absolutely true that you should seek professional diagnossis from a psychiatrist if you feel you have problems rather than on a board designed for guys who want to share secrets on how to get laid.
As a basic guide however, feeling depressed is common for a lot of people. If you were bipolar you would also feel incredibly ecstastic and invincible sometimes - like you owned the world sometimes, perhaps you felt like you were famous and felt nothing could stop you. This would soon be followed by an almighty crash where you felt the complete opposite of this and felt so depressed and poor self esteemed that you couldn't function. No amount of therapy would change this. Its simply a chemical problem with the brain fluctuating on its own accord despite your best intentions. If you only feel the depression without the highs, it is less likely to be bipolar but there are varying degrees of bipolar and the type I described is the most severe example of it. If you were BPD, you would probably experience issues more to do with perpetual anxiety with getting too attached to people or feeling too smothered by them constantly and wanting to push them away.
So go seek professional appraisal if you feel your life is concerning you. Your basic local doctor can refer you to a psychiatrist to assess you. We have mental health services in the world for this very reason. To help people. Make use of it if you feel the need and I am sure you will find people that are very skilled and can support and assist you. They may even conclude that you dont have any medical problem at all and this clarification may make you feel happier. If you are merely suffering from depression, have faith that this is entirely something that you can overcome and there is hope for you.
I wish you well man
Be good to yourself.
