Up to now, there is no fast and sound diagnosis of bipolar disorder. It is often diagnosed from the doctor’s investigation into the clients’ personal life. Hence much time is needed.

As bipolar disorder have two episodes: manic episode and depressive episode, bipolar disorder is very likely to be diagnosed as mania or unipolar depression. The reason for this highly misdiagnosis is that bipolar disorder shares many signs and symptoms with other psychiatrical problems. And people with bipolar disorder are more likely to seek help when they are depressed than when experiencing mania or hypomania. Therefore, a careful medical history is needed to assure that bipolar disorder is not mistakenly diagnosed as major depressive disorder. In order to have an accurate diagnosis, the doctor would ask his relatives and friends about his patients’ family history of bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses and get a complete history of symptoms. Then a mental health evaluation is given by the doctor.

Have said that no mental test or other kind of diagnosis could diagnose bipolar disorder immediately, there IS one kind of questionnaire that could be of great help. This questionnaire is called the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, or MDQ, which is a checklist that helps a doctor identify bipolar-related symptoms.