Mood spectrum · 36 questions · free

Bipolar Disorder Test

Are my ups and downs more than mood swings?

Look across adult life⁠—the weeks with little sleep, the heavy stretches and turns between them. See whether your mood follows events or a rhythm of its own, and what that pattern changes.

Rated 4.8 / 5 by 243,000+ Freudly users

36 questions · your whole adult life, not just this week

Mixed states

High

Your mood spectrum

Example

High periods

High

Your baseline

Low periods

Moderate

Both poles — bipolar-spectrum-like

Cycling intensity · Moderate

Impact on life · Moderate

Example personal profile

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Join 2,700+ people who wanted to know if it’s more than moodiness.

2,700+

People have taken this test on Freudly

Questions across five areas of your mood history

Personal answer reading

5 + 1

Area scores and one mood spectrum index

Sound familiar?

Some weeks you’re unstoppable. Some weeks you can’t get up.

Most people only notice their lows — the highs feel like finally being yourself. These are the moments people describe most often before they take this test.

High side

Three hours of sleep, wide awake

You go to bed at 2, wake at 5 and feel brilliant. The tiredness never comes — for days.

“Who needs sleep when I’ve finally figured everything out?”

High side

The spending you explain later

Big purchases, new gear, a bet that felt certain. A week later, the bank app tells a different story.

“It felt like such a good idea at the time.”

Low side

Weeks under heavy water

Showering is a project. Messages pile up unanswered. The things you love stop meaning anything.

“I’ll answer tomorrow. I said that last week.”

High side

Talking faster than people can follow

Ideas arrive before you finish the last one, and friends start waiting for a gap to speak.

“Why is everyone so slow tonight?”

Mixed state

Wired and miserable at 2 a.m.

Your body is exhausted, your mood is on the floor and your thoughts are racing anyway.

“I’m exhausted and my head won’t stop.”

Own clock

The same season, every year

Spring brings a rush of plans and energy, autumn takes it all away — like clockwork.

“Here it comes again — same time as last year.”

Recognise two or more?

The test shows whether they’re ordinary mood swings that follow your life — or periods with a rhythm of their own.

Try 3 questions

What does one answer already say about you?

Think across adult life. Choose the answer that best shows how often each period happened.

Choose an answer to see what it may mean

Sleep and energy

From the test

I've had periods of sleeping only three or four hours a night and still waking up full of energy, without feeling tired.

Needing very little sleep without feeling tired can mark a real rise in energy, not just a busy week. Other answers will show whether projects, speech and confidence changed with it.

Feeling tired after a short night is the usual response to lack of sleep. Other answers will show whether other signs of a high have appeared.

One or two such periods may be tied to events rather than to a mood rhythm. Other answers will show whether your speech, plans and confidence changed at the time.

Two feelings at once

From the test

I've lain awake at night with thoughts speeding through my head while feeling deeply low at the same time.

Racing thoughts during a deep low can point to a mixed state. Other answers show if sleeplessness comes with it.

Racing thoughts during a low mood are not familiar to you. Other answers will show how your ups and downs usually go.

When nights like this keep coming back, highs and lows may be mixing. Other answers will show how often it happens and what comes with the sleeplessness.

A rhythm of its own

From the test

My ups and downs have come in distinct phases with a clear start and end, rather than as reactions to what was going on.

Phases with clear beginnings and endings may follow their own rhythm, not daily events. Other answers show what tends to happen before, during and after those turns.

Your mood tends to follow events rather than run on its own rhythm. Other answers will show how strong your ups and downs get.

Clear phases have been rare; your mood mostly follows events. Other answers will show what happened during those periods.

Three real questions. The full test connects your answers.

How it works

From “is this just me?” to seeing your mood pattern clearly.

No right answers. Look for what repeated across years and situations.

Think back over your adult life

Each of the 36 statements describes a period of several days. Choose how often it has happened: never, once or twice, several times, or as a recurring pattern.

Whole adult life

age 18

today

If a period like this never happened, the statement adds nothing. Other answers will show how your mood, sleep and energy have shifted over the years.

One or two such periods in adult life are worth noting, but on their own they say little. Other answers will show whether they came with unusual lift, short sleep or sudden drive.

Periods that came back several times weigh more in the result than a single episode. Other answers will show whether highs and lows tend to appear together.

Connect the two sides

Your answers show whether heavy stretches stand alone or tend to appear alongside unusual lift, short sleep or sudden drive.

Your mood pattern · example

High periods

High

Low periods

Moderate

Both at once

High

Use it in real life

Notice your early signs, protect sleep and important decisions, and ask Freudly AI about a high, a crash or a difficult mixed night from your own history.

Your next steps

What comes before and after your highs

Your personal early-warning signs

Questions to bring to a psychiatrist

Your personal mood pattern

The question behind the search

A mood swing follows your day. An episode keeps its own clock.

Everyone has ups and downs. What matters is how long they last, what they do to your sleep and energy, and whether they arrive on their own. Every question in this test is built around those differences.

Ordinary mood swings

Small ripples, tied to events, gone by evening

An argument

A deadline

Good news

A bad night

A mood with its own clock

Long arcs with a clear start and end

8 weeks

→

Trigger

A sleepless night or a flight can tip it off

Lift-off

Days of soaring mood on 3⁠–4 hours of sleep

The crash after the high

Wired and low at once

A heavy stretch lasting weeks

Clear start · clear end

Same time every year

Example shape. Your own timeline is built from your answers.

Duration

Every statement asks about periods of several days, not a bad afternoon.

Sleep

Less sleep without tiredness — or far more sleep without rest.

Its own clock

Seasons, no obvious reason, phases with edges.

Speed of the turns

High to low within days, or a crash after an exciting stretch.

What it measures

Five questions about your mood history.

Learn what your highs are made of, what kind of low you have, how quickly the direction changes, whether both sides ever arrive together⁠—and where the pattern reaches everyday life.

High (hypomanic/manic) periods

What your answers show

Stretches of raised or irritable mood with more energy than usual.

What it can look like

Sleeping 3⁠–4 hours and still full of energy

Talking faster than others can follow

Starting many projects at once

Example

High

Low periods

What your answers show

Weeks of low mood, lost pleasure and slowed-down energy.

What it can look like

Empty or hopeless most of the day

Simple decisions feel like hard work

Sleeping far more and still waking up tired

Example

Moderate

Cycling & rapid shifts

What your answers show

How fast your mood turns and whether it follows its own clock rather than events.

What it can look like

High to low within a few days

A crash after an exciting stretch

Certain seasons reliably bring a lift or a slump

Example

Moderate

Mixed states (wired and low at once)

What your answers show

Times when signs of both poles show up together.

What it can look like

Restless and agitated while drained

Racing thoughts on a low night

Energy with nowhere good to go

Example

High

Impact on life and relationships

What your answers show

How strongly your highs and lows have reached your work, relationships and decisions.

What it can look like

A job quit or started on impulse

Relationships strained by a high or a low

Decisions you later regretted

Example

Moderate

Mood spectrum index

Lifetime · example

Together, the first four areas show how far your mood travels⁠—from lift to heaviness, through quick turns and moments when both sides overlap.

The state that hides

Wired and low at once — the night that feels like anxiety.

Some of the hardest nights aren’t a plain low. Your mood is on the floor, but your mind won’t slow down and your body won’t settle. The test looks at this blend separately, because it is easy to mistake for anxiety and hard to explain to anyone.

10 p.m.

12 a.m.

2 a.m.

4 a.m.

6 a.m.

Mixed states

Low mood + fast thoughts

Low mood

Thought speed

Both at once

Racing thoughts

“I've lain awake at night with thoughts speeding through my head while feeling deeply low at the same time.”

Restless low

“Some low periods came with a strange inner restlessness — tense, agitated and unable to sit still despite feeling drained.”

Wired and drained

“There have been days when I felt wired and miserable at once, full of energy I couldn't put to any good use.”

How often both poles have shown up together

Whether your lows slow you down or wind you up

How mixed nights connect to your highs and your crashes

Personal reading

See which side leads⁠—and what tends to happen next.

Two people can call it “mood swings” and live different patterns. Your reading connects the order, timing and effects in your answers.

Good weeks: ordinary energy or a repeating rise

Why some lows slow you while others leave you wired

Which sleep, spending or speech change comes first

When to protect a decision from a high or low

Your mood pattern · example

Example · Both poles

Low periods ↑

Mostly low periods — depression-led

Both poles — bipolar-spectrum-like

No marked mood episodes

Mostly high periods

You · both poles

High periods →

High periods

High

Low periods

Moderate

Cycling & rapid shifts

Moderate

Mixed states

High

Impact on life and relationships

Moderate

Mood spectrum index

Moderate

Cycling intensity · Moderate

Impact on life · Moderate

Example pattern. Your reading comes from the way your own answers connect.

Bipolar or BPD?

Weeks, not hours.

Both can feel like a rollercoaster, but the rhythm is different. This test looks for the slow kind: highs and lows that last days or weeks and often arrive without a clear trigger — not the fast drops that follow something between people.

Bipolar-type episodes · what this test measures

Highs and lows that last days or weeks, often without a clear trigger

~5 days up

~6 days low

Borderline-type swings · a different pattern

Drops within hours, usually after a trigger

Unanswered message

A remark at work

A cancelled plan

Day 1

Day 7

Day 14

How long it lasts

Days or weeks

Hours

What sets it off

Often no clear trigger

Usually something that happened, often between people

Where to look

This test · Cycling & rapid shifts scale

The BPD test

Your full report says which picture your answers fit

If it’s more the fast kind, the BPD test is a better next step

Shapes are illustrative.

With Freudly AI

Ask about the pattern behind one real week.

Freudly AI connects answers that look unrelated and helps you test what they mean for sleep, decisions, work and relationships.

Freudly AI

Reading your answer pattern

My good weeks just feel productive. Why do they matter here?

Three answers line up: during those weeks you sleep three or four hours, start several projects at once and speak faster than usual. Your answers also show that a heavy stretch often follows.

Inside it may sound like: “I’m finally keeping up. Why is everyone so slow? I’ll sleep later.” The crash then feels unrelated⁠—as if the energy simply ran out.

A sharper question: does the crash come after demanding weeks⁠—or after the weeks when you feel least tired and most unstoppable?

This week, mark the first night when sleep shortens without tiredness. Before adding a new project or making a big purchase, wait until the same decision still feels right after two normal nights.

That sequence is familiar. How can I spot the rise before other people do?

Connect the answers

See what sleep, energy, speech and spending do together

Catch an early sign

Name the first change that appears before a rise or a low

Mood and sleep journal

Notice which sleep changes predict energy shifts

Try one safeguard

Protect one decision or purchase this week

Who takes it

For anyone ready to understand their mood rhythm.

A mood pattern helps when it explains a real week, conflict or decision.

Trying to name the pattern

They want to know why sleepless, productive stretches and heavy weeks keep returning.

“Are my mood swings just me — or do they follow a rhythm?”

Protecting work and decisions

They want warning before sleep, spending, plans and confidence begin to shift together.

“Were those sleepless, unstoppable weeks a high period?”

Explaining it to someone close

They need words for why a high feels wonderful but worries a partner or friend.

“How do I explain this rhythm — or understand someone else’s?”

Reviews

What changed.

Rated 4.8 / 5 · trusted by 243,000+ users worldwide

Took the test

My productive spells had an order

I used to treat the good weeks and the crashes as separate things. The reading showed that short sleep, new projects and fast speech came first, then the heavy week. Now I write down the first sleep change instead of waiting for the crash.

Hannah R. · United Kingdom

Took the test

I stopped calling it motivation

My sister had noticed it for years: when I barely slept, I also talked faster and agreed to everything. I thought I was simply motivated. Now we have a phrase she can use when the pattern starts, without turning it into an argument.

Jordan M. · United States

Took the test

The lows finally made sense

I came because an ex called every argument “bipolar.” What helped was seeing that my lows slow me down rather than wind me up. I changed my plan for those weeks: fewer promises, food in the freezer and one person who knows I may go quiet.

Daniel K. · Canada

Took the test

Those nights had a name

I thought my worst nights were ordinary anxiety. Seeing low mood, racing thoughts and physical restlessness together was the first description that fit. I started tracking sleep and now recognise those nights before they swallow the whole week.

Priya S. · Canada

Took the test

I prepared before spring

Every spring I sleep less and suddenly want to rebuild my whole life. This time I wrote down my first signs in advance and set one rule: no major purchase after a short night. It sounds simple, but it stopped one familiar chain.

Leah W. · Australia

Took the test

I wait before big decisions

I knew about the highs and lows but not what they changed at work. Now, when everything feels obvious, I save the decision and reread it after normal sleep. I have already avoided one resignation I would have regretted.

Aoife N. · Ireland

Use it

Use your mood pattern in daily life.

Take the test free, connect your highs and lows, and learn to spot the pattern earlier.

What you can do

See whether highs, lows or both shape your history

Spot the first change in sleep, speech or spending

Tell a slowed-down low from a restless, wired one

Ask Freudly AI about a real high, crash or mixed night

Build a warning list for work and relationships

Use a mood journal to connect sleep and energy

Freudly

Notice your early signs

FAQ

Test questions.

What is the test based on?

It draws on the episode areas described in DSM-5-TR, the symptom content of widely studied mood questionnaires such as the MDQ and HCL-32, and bipolar-spectrum research by Akiskal, Goodwin and Jamison. Its 36 questions look across adult life at highs, lows, cycling, mixed states and real-life impact.

How do they test for bipolar disorder?

There is no blood test or brain scan for it. A psychiatrist or another clinician takes a detailed history of highs and lows, often uses screening questionnaires such as the MDQ, may ask someone close to you about past episodes and rules out other causes, such as thyroid problems, substances or medication effects. A bipolar self test like this one helps you prepare that history; it does not give a diagnosis.

What will I learn about myself?

You will see which side leads your history, whether your mood tends to change with events or follow its own rhythm, what kind of low you experience and whether both sides ever overlap. Your reading also connects the pattern to sleep, spending, work, relationships and decisions⁠—and helps you identify your earliest signs.

How does hypomania feel?

It can feel like an excellent week: less need for sleep, fast ideas, confidence, sociability and unusual drive. The useful clue is not one good mood but several changes arriving together and lasting for days. People close to you may notice the difference before it feels unusual to you. Hypomania that alternates with depressive periods is the pattern behind bipolar II, which is why a bipolar 2 test pays close attention to these milder highs.

Bipolar or borderline⁠—how do they differ?

Bipolar-spectrum changes tend to form periods lasting days or weeks and alter sleep and energy, sometimes without a clear trigger. Borderline-type changes often turn within hours around something that happens between people. The test pays close attention to duration, sleep, triggers and clear phase boundaries.

Bipolar depression or ordinary depression—how can I tell?

The difference lies in what came before the low. A bipolar depression test looks for low periods together with past high periods; that combination is why bipolar disorder used to be called manic depression. If your history shows lows without any highs, the pattern looks more like unipolar depression, and only a clinician can make that distinction formally.

Bipolar or ADHD—how do they differ?

ADHD traits are present most of the time, usually since childhood, while bipolar-spectrum changes come in periods that last days or weeks and alter sleep and energy. Restlessness and fast speech can appear in both, so the test asks how long each change lasts and whether it returns in phases.

What is a mixed state?

It is a period when signs of both sides appear together: low mood with racing thoughts, agitation, irritability or sleeplessness. From inside, it can feel less like a clear high or low and more like being exhausted and unable to stop. The test examines this blend separately.

Why does the test ask about my whole adult life?

A rhythm only becomes visible across time. Looking back shows whether short sleep, unusual drive, heavy weeks or mixed nights return in a similar order, follow seasons or arrive after the same trigger. That is more informative than a snapshot of how you feel today.

How does Freudly AI help after the test?

It works with the combination of your own answers. You can ask why a crash follows certain good weeks, which change appears first, or how to explain the pattern to someone close. Freudly AI can suggest one small safeguard⁠—such as delaying a purchase after short sleep⁠—and help you review what happened.

How are the questions organised?

This bipolar quiz covers five connected areas: high periods, low periods, cycling and rapid shifts, mixed states, and impact on life and relationships. Each statement asks about a period lasting several days and how often it has appeared across your adult life, so one difficult afternoon does not define the pattern.

What can I do with the result?

Start with the earliest change you recognise: shorter sleep, faster speech, extra plans, withdrawal or a restless low. Track it for a week, choose one decision you will pause when it appears, and share the pattern with someone you trust. A clear sequence is easier to act on than a vague sense of “mood swings.”

Is the bipolar test free?

Yes — this is a free bipolar disorder test with instant results: your answers are scored the moment you finish, and no sign-up is needed to start.

From noticing to a plan

A pattern helps when you spot it early and choose what to do next.

1 · Notice

Weeks when you barely sleep, weeks when you can’t get up, turns that come out of nowhere.

2 · Map

You are here

Connect highs, lows, mixed nights and the turns between them across your adult life.

3 · Understand

See what tends to come first, what follows and where the pattern reaches everyday life.

4 · Act

Choose one early sign to track and one decision to protect when it appears.

How the test works

Bipolar disorder test: description and methodology

The test follows the episode areas described in DSM-5-TR, the symptom content of widely studied mood questionnaires including the MDQ and HCL-32, and bipolar-spectrum research by Akiskal, Goodwin and Jamison. It looks across adult life so repeated patterns are visible.

Questions

36 statements, each about a period lasting at least several days, answered from never to a recurring pattern.

Areas

High periods, low periods, cycling & rapid shifts, mixed states, and impact on life and relationships.

Mood map

Your high and low scores place you in one of four mood pictures; cycling and impact get their own levels.

How the score is calculated

Every answer scores 0 to 3. Area scores are the sums of their questions. High periods, low periods, cycling and mixed states add up to the mood spectrum index (0⁠–93). The mood map splits the high and low scores at 45% of their range; each area gets a low, moderate or high level by thirds of its range.

Answer 36 questions

0 · 1 · 2 · 3 points

Five area totals

Mood spectrum index 0⁠–93

Your mood picture

Research basis

DSM-5-TR episode areas

MDQ / HCL-32 symptom areas

Akiskal spectrum

Goodwin & Jamison

The method brings together descriptions of hypomanic, manic, depressive and mixed episodes from DSM-5-TR; symptom areas studied in the MDQ and HCL-32; and bipolar-spectrum models developed by Akiskal, Goodwin and Jamison. Together they support a lifetime view of mood, sleep, energy, cycling and impact.

How to get an accurate result

Think of periods that lasted days or weeks, not single moments. If you’re unsure about a high period, ask yourself what people close to you noticed — they often see it before you do.

What makes the result specific

Episodes

Not moods

every question is about periods of several days

Lifetime

Not this week

your whole adult life counts

5 areas

Not one number

including mixed states and impact

Literature

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Publishing.

Hirschfeld, R. M. A., Williams, J. B. W., Spitzer, R. L., et al. (2000). Development and validation of a screening instrument for bipolar spectrum disorder: The Mood Disorder Questionnaire. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(11), 1873⁠–1875.

Angst, J., Adolfsson, R., Benazzi, F., et al. (2005). The HCL-32: Towards a self-assessment tool for hypomanic symptoms in outpatients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 88(2), 217⁠–233.

Akiskal, H. S., & Pinto, O. (1999). The evolving bipolar spectrum: Prototypes I, II, III, and IV. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 22(3), 517⁠–534.

Goodwin, F. K., & Jamison, K. R. (2007). Manic-Depressive Illness: Bipolar Disorders and Recurrent Depression (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Vieta, E., Berk, M., Schulze, T. G., et al. (2018). Bipolar disorders. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 4, 18008.

Updated: 2026-10-02

Bipolar Disorder Test - Description and methodology of the test

Many people ask themselves “Am I bipolar?” and wonder whether their ups and downs are ordinary moodiness or part of a bigger pattern. This bipolar disorder test helps you answer that question with structure instead of guesswork. It looks back over your whole life, maps periods of unusual energy and periods of heaviness, and shows how they relate to each other, how fast they turn and what they have cost you.

What the test measures

The questionnaire covers the full mood spectrum in five areas. High periods are stretches of elevated or irritable mood with less need for sleep, racing thoughts, fast speech, bold spending, inflated confidence and bursts of activity, the signs of hypomania and mania. Low periods cover weeks of emptiness, lost pleasure, slowed thinking, oversleeping, guilt and withdrawal. Cycling captures how quickly your mood switches, whether highs end in crashes and whether your phases follow the seasons or their own schedule. Mixed states describe times when agitation and low mood appear together. The impact scale shows how much your ups and downs have affected work, relationships and decisions. The first four areas add up to a mood spectrum index, and the balance between high and low periods places you on a map of four mood profiles.

How the test works and how to read your results

You rate 36 statements about periods that lasted at least several days, choosing how often each has happened in your life: never, once or twice, several times, or as a recurring pattern. Because the questions focus on episodes rather than on today's mood, the result reflects your long-term pattern, not a single bad week. Each area receives a score with a low, moderate or high level, and the profile combines them like this:

the ratio of high to low periods shows which pole leads your mood history;
the cycling score shows how fast and how independently of events your mood turns;
the mixed states score highlights blended phases that are easy to mistake for anxiety;
the impact score shows how strongly these shifts reach work and relationships.

Read the results of this bipolar screening test as a map of your mood rhythm. A clear picture of your highs, lows and transitions makes it easier to notice early signs, plan sleep and workload, and have a precise conversation with a psychiatrist or therapist.

Comments

Bipolar Disorder Test

Join 2,700+ people who wanted to know if it’s more than moodiness.

Some weeks you’re unstoppable. Some weeks you can’t get up.

What does one answer already say about you?

From “is this just me?” to seeing your mood pattern clearly.

A mood swing follows your day. An episode keeps its own clock.

Five questions about your mood history.

Wired and low at once — the night that feels like anxiety.

See which side leads⁠—and what tends to happen next.

Weeks, not hours.

Ask about the pattern behind one real week.

For anyone ready to understand their mood rhythm.

What changed.

Use your mood pattern in daily life.

Test questions.

Bipolar disorder test: description and methodology

Mood swings⁠—or a pattern you can spot?

Bipolar Disorder Test - Description and methodology of the test

What the test measures

How the test works and how to read your results