no title for today (when was there one?) just trying to work from a tangent.

So. This person on youtube was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. So I looked it up, and looked up the criteria for diagnosis, and found that they were very... iffy. There are so many grey areas I can think of, compared say to an orthopeadic diagnosis. From the medical encyclopedia on answers.com:

Psychologists and psychiatrists typically use the criteria listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) as a guideline for diagnosis of bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. DSM-IV describes a manic episode as an abnormally elevated or irritable mood lasting a period of at least one week that is distinguished by at least three of the mania symptoms: inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, talkativeness, racing thoughts, distractibility, increase in goal-directed activity, or excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences. If the mood of the patient is irritable and not elevated, four of the symptoms are required.

How do you tell when a patient is "irritable" and not "elevated"? I mean I know friends who sometimes have the symptoms "decreased need for sleep, talkativeness, distractability, racing thoughts"-- although admittedly not for a whole week. From this information I feel quite insecure from the thought that I could be very easily misdiagnosed if I went to a psychiatrist.