In truth, it can be difficult to tell the difference between typical moodiness and bipolar disorder.  That’s because both involve a shift in emotions. Moodiness is a simple expression of a range of emotions, whereas bipolar disorder is a chronic psychiatric condition that causes the mood to cycle through periods of mood elevation, known as mania, and episodes of depression.

“We all experience moodiness or changes in mood, which is very normal. But bipolar disorder is a very distinct condition,” says Dr. William R. Marchand, a psychiatrist and author of Depression and Bipolar Disorder: Your Guide to Recovery and Mindfulness for Bipolar Disorder. “Moodiness typically only lasts for hours or a day or two and then the mood gets back to normal. But bipolar disorder causes persistent and recurrent emotional symptoms that interfere with life.”

To differentiate between the two, it’s important to know the characteristics of both conditions.

“One way to think about it is that with normal moodiness, the person is just experiencing the emotional state of their mood. For example, they may be feeling irritable or depressed,” says Dr. Marchand.  “But in an episode of bipolar mania or depression, there are many additional symptoms. If it’s a depressive episode, symptoms include difficulty experiencing pleasure, changes in weight or appetite, changes in sleep patterns, increased or decreased energy, negative thinking, hopelessness and a loss of sex-drive.

"Symptoms of manic episodes include euphoria, inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, rapid speech, racing thoughts, increased goal-directed activity and excessive involvement in activities that can cause painful consequences, such as unrestrained buying sprees or sexual indiscretions.  Milder manic episodes can also occur and these are known as hypomania.”