Are Your Bipolar Disorder Symptoms Under Control?

“‘It [can] take a decade for people to get correctly diagnosed,” says Holly A. Swartz, MD, medical director of the Depression and Manic Depression Prevention Program at the University of Pittsburgh and treasurer of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders. The delay, she says, “can lead to people getting inappropriate treatments that won’t effectively control the full range of their symptoms.” Once diagnosed, it can also take some trial and error to find the right treatments that help you effectively manage your symptoms.
If you’re wondering if your treatment is effectively managing your symptoms, this assessment — which was crafted with the help of Dr. Swartz and Jeffrey Borenstein, MD, president and CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, an organization that awards grants to researchers studying mental health conditions like bipolar disorder — can help. Take the quiz to find out whether your bipolar disorder is truly under control.
If you or a loved one is experiencing significant distress or having thoughts about suicide and needs support, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. If you need immediate help, call 911.
Question 1
How are you feeling compared to how you normally feel?

- A. Worse than usual.
- B. Neither better nor worse than usual.
- C. Better than I normally feel — energized, pumped, and ready to take on the world, 24/7.
- D. Alternately both better and worse than usual — definitely not the same as how I normally feel.
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Angela D. Harper, MD
Medical Reviewer
Angela D. Harper, MD, is in private practice at Columbia Psychiatric Associates in South Carolina, where she provides evaluations, medication management, and psychotherapy for adults.
A distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Harper has worked as a psychiatrist throughout her career, serving a large number of patients in various settings, including a psychiatric hospital on the inpatient psychiatric and addiction units, a community mental health center, and a 350-bed nursing home and rehab facility. She has provided legal case consultation for a number of attorneys.
Harper graduated magna cum laude from Furman University with a bachelor's degree and cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency in adult psychiatry. During residency, she won numerous awards, including the Laughlin Fellowship from the American College of Psychiatrists, the Ginsberg Fellowship from the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, and resident of the year and resident medical student teacher of the year. She was also the member-in-training trustee to the American Psychiatric Association board of trustees during her last two years of residency training.
Harper volunteered for a five-year term on her medical school's admission committee, has given numerous presentations, and has taught medical students and residents. She currently supervises a nurse practitioner. She is passionate about volunteering for the state medical board's medical disciplinary commission, on which she has served since 2015.
She and her husband are avid travelers and have been to over 55 countries and territories.

Jen Laskey
Author
Jen Laskey is a writer, editor, and content strategist. She has worked on EverydayHealth.com in various capacities since its inception, and her writing has appeared in many major publications, including SAVEUR magazine, EatingWell magazine, NBC, TODAY, and Fodor's Travel guides. She has also served as the senior editorial director of Twill Health, leading editorial strategy and daily operations for Twill's health and mental health apps.
In addition to writing about health, mental health, and wellness, Laskey writes regularly about food, wine/spirits, travel, and the arts. She is the author of Jen’s Candy Jar: Artisanal Candy Recipes for Special Occasions and is the founding executive editor of the multi-award-winning wine & spirits online trade magazine SevenFifty Daily.
She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in writing from Bennington College and Columbia University.