Is constant crying normal for a 2-year-old?

Are my mood swings normal or something i should be more concerned about and could get worst?

• I'm a 19 year old female and i've noticed that for the past year or two i'll have these times where i feel like crying, sometimes for a day, sometimes for several days or even just an hour or two and i feel like i can't control my emotions completely and have to hold back from snapping at my parents and brother for little stupid things that don't normally bother me. I'll feel really overwhelmed by college and everything and hopeless, guilty and like i'll never be able to do the things i want to and i'll feel very alone but want to be alone because i don't want my parents to know i've been crying. When i'm not feeling depressed like that, i see it as silly and a major overreaction and that i shouldn't have felt that way and it passes so i just need to remember that and not left myself get so caught up in it and maybe next time i can deal with it better. Then there are times where i can feel like i can accomplish and deal with anything i set my mind to, but this usually doesn't last more than a few hours to a day before i think it's ridiculous i thought i could achieve the goals i set then. I also will have phases of staying up late or getting up really early and feeling just fine with only 3-4 hours of sleep. I don't know whether this is extreme or normal or what. I don't really have any friends other than my boyfriend who is my best friend in the world but lives in another country right now and i've talked to him about all of this and he's been really supportive. i don't drink or do drugs, i mostly just stay in my room on my computer and play games, do homework, and talk to him. I used to read a lot, like 5 books at a time and finish them all within a month, but now i can't even seem to take the time to even finish one a month. I've have anxiety issues, but i haven't had any panic attacks for months and have been doing better with that even though i've never seen a doctor about it. Could my crying spelling and such be due to my anxiety? Sometimes i even go from feeling great one minute to depressed the next without anything happening to cause it and other times that happens but i feel i am overreacting and can't control it. It happens at all times of the month, not just when i'm on my period or close to it, not that i can tell anyway. Could it be related to that though? My grades have started to suffer a bit due to the crying and feeling depressed, but it mostly hasn't effected my life too much or maybe it is and i've just gotten used to it. When i have one of those crying spells i feel very pathetic because my life is fine and i really don't have anything to be upset about to that extent. I try to pretend like i'm fine when i really feel like crying but sometimes that's hard to do. It's not constant at least and i'll feel normal for a while. It's only hard to deal with when i'm feeling depressed and i don't know if any of this is that extreme enough i should talk to my doctor about it, i've never felt really suicidal or done anything reckless or stupid. I mean i've had my moments where i wish i didn't exist or wondered what if i jumped off this high cliff, but don't we all? I don't really know what is "normal" or not and what if anything i should or can do about this. Thanks for reading this and thanks for your advice!

• Answer:

  I'm no expert, but from reading this it sounds like you may have Bipolar I or II disorder. If you are having periods of extreme highs and lows that's a definite thing to be concerned about. I have major depressive disorder and dysthymia. That means I have chronic low mood but there are periods where I get into severe depressive states that can last up to two years. I also have days where I'm in more of a manic state and feel like I can do anything which has made my counselor think I may have some form of Bipolar. It's extremely hard to diagnose though and a lot of times people are misdiagnosed. You should see if your college offers student counseling services and make an appointment or use some sort of resource (the internet, family, friends, etc.) to find a counselor, psychiatric nurse practitioner, or a psychologist to go see. Then you can be more at ease about what you are experiencing because you will have someone on your side advocating for your health. Some counseling or evaluations are really the only ways to know for sure if what is going on is serious. If you want, go google some bipolar screening tests and see what your results are. You can even print them out and take them with you to a counselor or other professional. Try depression and anxiety tests too. I did that when I first started to notice my depression and anxiety. Good luck!