Updated 3 October 2026
At a glance
- NIMH describes bipolar disorder as an illness that causes clear shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration, with manic, depressive, and mixed episodes (NIMH).
- NIMH lists different symptoms for each episode type, from decreased need for sleep and racing thoughts to trouble concentrating and lack of interest in almost all activities. (Source: nimh.nih.gov.)
- In a prospective study of 146 patients with bipolar I disorder, patients were symptomatically ill 47.3% of weeks over a mean of 12.8 years, so milder days belong in the log (Judd et al., 2002).
- Bipolar Journey is a bipolar tracker that keeps mood, energy, sleep, thinking, behavior, and medication timing in one dated history, with Insights across weeks.
People search for bipolar symptoms in the words they notice: racing thoughts, needing less sleep, irritability, spending, crashing, or feeling flat. Clinical lists use their own terms for the same experiences. A daily log connects the two with one plain line per symptom, a date, and a rating.
This guide goes through the symptom groups that NIMH and the NHS describe: mood and energy, sleep, thinking and speech, behavior, and the milder days between episodes. Each section shows what the symptom looks like as a log entry. The last two sections cover a one-page visit summary and where to go for urgent help.
How bipolar disorder symptoms are described, and what a daily log adds
NIMH says a person with bipolar disorder can have manic episodes, depressive episodes, or mixed episodes, and that a mixed episode has both manic and depressive symptoms (NIMH). NIMH adds that episode symptoms last a week or two, or sometimes longer, every day for most of the day, and that mood usually returns to a healthy baseline in between. In the NIMH statistics for adults in the United States, an estimated 2.8% had bipolar disorder in the past year (NIMH statistics).
A dated record makes those time spans visible: the day a symptom first appeared, how many days in a row it continued, and the day it faded. Five fields cover most entries:
| Log field | What to write | Example entry |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time first noticed | The day and part of day the symptom started | Tuesday evening, wired |
| Days in a row | A running count until the symptom ends | Day 3 of needing little sleep |
| Intensity | A 0 to 3 rating: none, mild, moderate, strong | Racing thoughts: 2 |
| Function | What the symptom changed at work, school, or home | Left two tasks unfinished |
| Who noticed | You, a partner, a coworker, or a friend | Partner mentioned fast talking |
In Bipolar Journey (by Health Journey Labs), the Daily check-in records mood, energy, sleep, and exercise in one guided pass, and custom symptoms add labels for your own words, such as "wired" or "flat". Insights can show which symptoms tend to appear first in the days before a harder week.
Mood and energy symptoms of bipolar disorder to log: elevated, low, irritable and anxious days
NIMH's list for a manic episode starts with feeling very up, high, elated, extremely irritable, or touchy, and feeling jumpy or wired or being more active than usual. Its list for a major depressive episode includes feeling very down or sad, or anxious, and feeling slowed down or restless (NIMH).
A day can include an item from each list, so rate every symptom on its own line instead of one overall mood number. From Bipolar Journey, we recommend the same 0 to 3 scale for every row, so rows compare across weeks. For a closer look at elevated stretches, see mania symptoms: what elevated weeks look like to log, and for low stretches, bipolar depression weeks: what energy and sleep look like to log.
Mood and energy symptoms
Bipolar Journey separates elevated, low, irritable and anxious mood.
| Symptom as NIMH words it | Plain log line | Extra detail worth adding |
|---|---|---|
| Feeling very up, high, or elated | Mood high: 2 | How many hours it lasted |
| Extremely irritable or touchy | Irritable: 3 | Number of sharp exchanges and with whom |
| Jumpy or wired; more active than usual | Wired: 2 | Extra projects or hours of activity |
| Feeling very down or sad | Mood low: 2 | Part of the day it was worst |
| Anxious | Anxious: 1 | What the worry centered on |
| Slowed down or restless | Slowed: 2, or Restless: 2 | Tasks that took longer than usual |
The Daily check-in in Bipolar Journey carries these mood and energy fields, so each day is logged in the same fields. The Flare Tracker marks a day clearly worse than your usual hard week, with onset, intensity, and a short note. The pattern across stretches shows whether high, low, or mixed days came first.
Bipolar disorder sleep symptoms: needing less sleep versus trouble sleeping
Two different sleep changes appear in the symptom lists. NIMH names decreased need for sleep among the symptoms of a manic episode, and trouble falling asleep, waking up too early, or sleeping too much among the symptoms of a major depressive episode (NIMH).
The hours alone can match: a four-hour night can come with high energy or with exhaustion. The next-day line separates them, so log bedtime, wake time, hours asleep, and how the following day felt. A fuller walkthrough of sleep logging is in how to start tracking sleep and mood in bipolar disorder.
Needing less sleep or trouble sleeping
Bipolar Journey logs these differently because they mean different things.
| Night | Log line | NIMH wording it matches |
|---|---|---|
| Short night, energy stays high | 4 hours, no tiredness, extra energy | Decreased need for sleep |
| Short night, tired and wanting sleep | 4 hours, could not fall asleep, tired | Trouble falling asleep |
| Awake hours before the alarm | Woke 3 a.m., could not return | Waking up too early |
| Long night, still heavy the next day | 11 hours, still slow | Sleeping too much |
Add the time of the last caffeine or alcohol, because those lines explain some short nights.
In Bipolar Journey, the Daily check-in keeps sleep hours and next-day energy on one date. My Meds keeps medicine timing, which dates a late medicine against a wakeful night. Two or three weeks of these rows form a pattern that shows whether short nights come with high energy or with exhaustion.
Bipolar disorder thinking and speech symptoms: racing thoughts, focus and talking speed
NIMH lists racing thoughts, talking fast about a lot of different things ("flight of ideas"), and feeling able to do many things at once without getting tired among manic symptoms. The depressive list includes trouble concentrating or making decisions, talking very slowly, feeling unable to find anything to say, or forgetting a lot (NIMH).
These symptoms are easiest to record as the task they interrupted, because a rating alone says little about function. Name the task, the time, and what changed:
Racing thoughts, concentration and talking speed
Bipolar Journey records thinking and speech signs in plain words.
| Item | What to write |
|---|---|
| Racing thoughts | the time of day, how many topics at once, and whether sleep was possible. |
| Talking speed | whether anyone commented, in what setting, and what the comment was. |
| Concentration | the task and the minutes it took, such as "one email, 40 minutes". |
| Decisions | any decision postponed or made quickly, and whether it was later reversed. |
| Memory | the plan or fact that slipped, in a few words. |
Rate each line from 0 to 3 at the end of the day.
The Daily Journal in Bipolar Journey takes voice notes when typing is hard, so a fast-moving day can be recorded in your own words without a form. The Daily check-in then keeps the rating for that day, which links the spoken note to a score. Over several weeks, the pairs form a pattern of which days brought racing thoughts and which brought slowed thinking.
Bipolar disorder behavior symptoms: spending, appetite, alcohol, sex drive and activity
NIMH lists excessive appetite for food, drinking, sex, or other pleasurable activities among manic symptoms, together with difficulty maintaining work responsibilities, social activities, or relationships (NIMH). The NHS lists a high sex drive, being impulsive or extravagant such as spending lots of money, and saying or doing things that are rude, inappropriate, or unusual for you. On the low side it lists eating too much or too little and avoiding other people.
Behavior entries work best as dated facts. Write what happened and the day, then add a 0 to 3 rating for how unusual it was for you:
Spending, appetite, alcohol, sex drive and activity
Bipolar Journey notes behavior that is outside your usual.
| Item | What to write |
|---|---|
| Spending | purchases outside your plan, with the date and a rough amount range. |
| Appetite and drinking | meals skipped or doubled, and the number of alcoholic drinks. |
| Sex drive | a rating only, with no detail required. |
| Commitments | new projects, sign-ups, or plans added in one day. |
| Withdrawal | messages unanswered and invitations declined, with the count. |
A partner or friend can add one line a week about what they noticed. NIMH says feelings come with changes in behavior, energy, or activity that are noticeable to others, so an outside line completes the record.
In Bipolar Journey, the Food Tracker holds meal, caffeine, and alcohol lines. The Daily Journal holds purchases and commitments in your own words. A month of these rows forms a pattern of which behaviors appeared first in a harder week.
Bipolar disorder symptoms between episodes: why milder days belong in the log
NIMH says mood usually returns to a healthy baseline between episodes (NIMH), and the NHS says stable stretches can last for weeks, months, or years. Weekly records from Judd et al., 2002 and Judd et al., 2003 add detail.
Weeks with symptoms in two long studies
Bipolar Journey reviewed two long follow-up studies of bipolar I and II.
| Study | People followed | Weeks with symptoms | Milder versus full-level symptoms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judd et al., 2002 | 146 with bipolar I disorder, mean 12.8 years | 47.3% | Subsyndromal, minor depressive and hypomanic: 29.9% of weeks; major depressive and manic: 11.2% |
| Judd et al., 2003 | 86 with bipolar II disorder | 53.9% | Not compared here |
A log for only the hard weeks would miss that milder layer. The shortest daily entry still captures it: hours slept, one mood word, one energy rating from 0 to 3, and whether medicine was taken. Stable days also define what "usual" means for you, which is the comparison every harder week needs.
In Bipolar Journey, the Daily check-in stays short enough for stable days. The Flare Tracker marks the days that rise above them. With both in the history, Insights can show how long the weeks between marked days last and what the entries looked like just before the next rise.
Turning bipolar disorder symptom entries into a one-page visit summary
NIMH says bipolar disorder is diagnosed based on the severity, length, and frequency of a person's symptoms and experiences over their lifetime, and their family history (NIMH). Those three words match the log fields: intensity, days in a row, and how often a symptom returns. NIMH also notes that thyroid disease can cause symptoms like those of bipolar disorder, and that some prescribed, recreational, or illicit drugs can mimic or worsen mood symptoms, so medicines and substances belong on the page.
A one-page symptom summary
Bipolar Journey picks the three symptoms that changed most.
- The three symptoms that changed most, each with the first date, days in a row, and highest rating.
- Sleep range for the last two weeks, from shortest to longest night.
- What each symptom changed at work, school, or home.
- Every medicine, supplement, caffeine, and alcohol pattern, with start dates for anything new.
- Any lab or thyroid test dates and results already received.
- Two or three questions, written as questions, such as "Which of these entries matter most for my plan?"
NIMH recommends keeping a life chart or mood journal to help recognize mood swings, and a one-page summary is the same record shortened for a short appointment.
The Doctor Report in Bipolar Journey exports a one-page summary from the history you logged, so the appointment opens with dated symptoms instead of memory. My Care Team stores clinician names and visit notes, which lets you write the answers you heard and check them against later entries.
Bipolar disorder symptoms that need help now rather than a log entry
If you have thoughts of harming yourself or feel unsafe, call your local emergency number (for example, 911) or a crisis line where you live (for example, 988). The National Institute of Mental Health advises: “If you are suicidal or in emotional distress, consider using the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.” (NIMH)
Some symptoms call for contact first and a log entry afterward. NIMH lists thinking about death or suicide among depressive symptoms, and the NHS lists suicidal thoughts or thoughts about harming yourself, and hallucinations, delusions, or paranoia among high-mood symptoms. NIMH says that anyone in immediate distress or thinking about hurting themselves can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, and that in life-threatening situations the number is 911. The 988 Lifeline site states that conversations are free and confidential and available 24/7/365.
As one example of an urgent-help page, the NHS page on urgent help for mental health lists a phone and online service. For worries that are not urgent, NIMH recommends talking to a primary care provider, who can refer to a mental health professional. NIMH also advises reporting concerns about medicine side effects to the prescribing provider right away.
After help is in place, write the entry: the date, what happened, who you spoke to, and what was advised. That record gives the next appointment an accurate account.
In Bipolar Journey, the Daily Journal takes voice notes, so the account of a crisis day can be recorded afterward in your own words. The Flare Tracker marks the date of that day. The dated entries form a pattern of what came before and after, which the next appointment can start from.
How Bipolar Journey can help
A notebook works for a symptom log when the same few lines are filled in each day. An app adds the step of comparing weeks, so you can see which symptoms came first and how long they lasted. For a comparison of trackers, see Best Bipolar Apps 2026.
Bipolar Journey is a personal bipolar tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. On this angle, it lets you record each symptom as a dated line with a rating, from mood and sleep to thinking, speech, and behavior. Those rows turn into patterns across weeks, which gives you and your clinician a clear account of what changed and when. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.
- Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, and meds, so insights can show links memory misses.
- Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice when typing is hard, that give insights context scores cannot carry.
- Flare Tracker — Mark a day clearly worse than usual, so insights can separate a one-off spike from a repeating pattern.
- My Meds — Medicine names and timing, including options you already take as prescribed. Insights can relate timing to sleep hours and next-day mood.
- My Assessments — Structured check-ins that give insights more context about your life.
- Learn — Short education topics on bipolar themes such as sleep, mood, routines, and visit prep.
- AI companions — Clara and specialist companions answer with your logged history in view.
- Weekly Goals — Set one small aim and see whether it held, which shows whether a habit change helped.
- Doctor Report — Export a one-page summary from your logged history when a written summary helps a short visit.
- My Care Team — Add clinicians and visit notes to prepare questions and review answers.
- My Labs — Result dates for ordered tests, weighed against sleep, mood, and function in the same weeks.
- Period Tracker — Start and stop dates, flow, and how heavy bleeding felt, so insights can relate cycle weeks to sleep and mood.
- Food Tracker — Meal or drink lines, so insights can relate food, caffeine, or alcohol to sleep and mood.
- Weight Tracker — Scale notes when weight is part of what you and your clinician are watching, joined to the same sleep and mood history.
Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.
We make Bipolar Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and urgent care decisions belong with your treating clinicians.
Sources
- NIMH — Bipolar Disorder (publication)
- NIMH — Bipolar Disorder statistics
- NHS — Bipolar disorder
- NHS — Where to get urgent help for mental health
- Judd LL et al. The long-term natural history of the weekly symptomatic status of bipolar I disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2002
- Judd LL et al. A prospective investigation of the natural history of the long-term weekly symptomatic status of bipolar II disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
FAQ
The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Bipolar Journey (by Health Journey Labs).
What are the first symptoms of bipolar disorder?
NIMH says bipolar disorder symptoms most often start during late adolescence or early adulthood, and occasionally in children. A first record can start with three lines: sleep hours, energy, and mood, each dated, so a change that lasts days stands out from one that lasts hours.
In Bipolar Journey, the Daily check-in keeps sleep, energy, and mood together on each date and builds a baseline. Insights can show when a run of days departs from that baseline, which gives a first visit a start date.
How long do bipolar symptoms last in an episode?
NIMH says mood episodes cause symptoms that last a week or two, or sometimes longer. It defines bipolar I disorder by manic episodes lasting at least 7 days, with depressive episodes typically lasting at least 2 weeks. Counting days in a row lets your record show those spans.
The Flare Tracker in Bipolar Journey marks the first day of a stretch that is clearly worse than usual, and later check-ins fill in the days after. Each stretch ends up with a start date and an end date that are easy to read.
How does a hypomanic day differ from a manic day in a log?
NIMH describes hypomanic episodes as like manic episodes but less severe, and says they don't interfere as much with daily life. NIMH adds that a person may feel very good and productive, while family and friends notice the change. The function line and the line from an outside observer show the difference.
With Bipolar Journey, the Daily Journal holds the function line in your words with the day's rating. Several weeks of entries show which stretches changed work or home life and which left it largely intact, which gives your clinician useful detail.
Do the symptoms look different in bipolar II disorder?
NIMH defines bipolar II disorder by a pattern of depressive and hypomanic episodes, and says many people spend extended periods in a persistent, low-grade depressive state. In an 86-patient follow-up, depressive symptoms were present in 50.3% of weeks (Judd et al., 2003), so the low-mood and low-energy rows matter most.
The Daily check-in in Bipolar Journey keeps low mood, energy, and sleep on one page for every date. The history then shows how many weeks in a row had a low rating, which explains how long a low stretch has lasted.
How do I log a day with both high and low symptoms?
NIMH says a mixed episode has both manic and depressive symptoms. Rate each symptom on its own line, so one day can show "racing thoughts: 3" and "mood low: 2" together. A single mood number would hide that combination.
In Bipolar Journey, the Flare Tracker adds a short note to the day, such as which items were high and which were low. Insights can then show how often those days occurred and what the sleep hours looked like around them.
How do I find what sets off high or low days?
The NHS says it helps to know what can trigger high and low moods, and lists feeling stressed, not getting enough sleep, or being too busy. Add a line each day for stress level, hours slept, and the number of commitments, and compare those lines with the next day's ratings.
Bipolar Journey keeps those lines in the same Daily check-in as mood and energy, so a stressful day and the mood that followed share a timeline. Insights can show which trigger lines came before your harder weeks and which did not.
What if I do not notice my own symptoms?
NIMH notes that feelings come with changes in behavior, energy, or activity levels that are noticeable to others. Ask one trusted person for a single line each week about your sleep, talking speed, and activity, and add it to your record with their name and the date.
The Daily Journal in Bipolar Journey keeps that outside line in your history as a dated note. When the line and your own ratings differ, the gap is useful information to bring to an appointment.
How many symptoms should I log each day?
Start with six: mood, energy, sleep hours, irritability, anxiety, and one thinking or behavior line. Add another only after it has appeared twice in a week. A short list filled in every day gives more usable data than a long list filled in sometimes.
Bipolar Journey offers guided forms with the key questions, and custom symptoms let you add a label such as "racing thoughts" once it appears. The Daily check-in stays short while the record grows with what you experience.
How do I log symptoms that overlap with anxiety or ADHD?
NIMH says many people with bipolar disorder also have other conditions, such as anxiety disorders or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Rate anxiety, restlessness, and concentration on their own lines every day, and your clinician can look at them across the whole course of the illness.
In Bipolar Journey, Clara, the general chat in the AI companions, answers with your logged history in view, so a question about restlessness can start from your own ratings. The record then shows how those lines moved across weeks.
What do I log when a medicine changes?
Write the date the change began, who advised it, and the symptoms and sleep hours in the days after. NIMH advises reporting concerns about side effects to a health care provider right away and talking to a provider before stopping medicine. Record questions rather than conclusions.
My Meds in Bipolar Journey dates the change, and the Daily check-in keeps the following days on the same timeline. Your prescriber can compare the days before and after, and you can bring a specific question to the next visit.
Do bipolar symptoms change with the seasons?
NIMH says many people with bipolar disorder experience seasonal worsening of depression in the winter, in some cases to the point of seasonal affective disorder. Add the month and a daylight note to your sleep and energy rows, and compare the same months across years.
With Bipolar Journey, last winter's entries stay in the dated history alongside this winter's. Insights improve as months accumulate, so a seasonal pattern is easier to spot in the second year of logging than in the first.
Why do symptoms sometimes go unnoticed for years?
NIMH says some people have bipolar disorder for years before it is diagnosed, and that people with bipolar II disorder may seek help only for depressive episodes while hypomanic episodes go unnoticed. Log elevated days as well as low days, even when they felt useful.
In Bipolar Journey, the Daily check-in asks about both directions every day, so elevated stretches enter the history along with low ones. A clinician reading the whole record sees both sides of the course.
What should I bring to a first psychiatry appointment?
Bring a one-page summary of the three biggest symptom changes with dates, the sleep range, every medicine with start dates, any test results, and two or three questions. NIMH says a primary care provider can refer you to a psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker.
The Doctor Report in Bipolar Journey exports that summary from your logged history, and My Care Team stores the referral names and the notes you take during the visit. Both save time at the appointment and afterward.
What do I do about thoughts of death or self-harm?
Contact help first: call or text 988 in the United States, or call 911 in a life-threatening situation. Elsewhere, call your local emergency number. Write the entry once someone is with you or you are safe.
Afterward, the Daily Journal in Bipolar Journey lets you record what happened and who helped, in your own words or by voice. That account helps your care team understand the days around the crisis and plan what comes next.
How do I keep privacy in check with my health log?
Mood and sleep entries can be misread by someone who was not there. Keep the log behind a passcode and agree on what you share.
Entries you add to Bipolar Journey are your own health notes. Check the app's privacy policy for how data is stored and handled. Nothing in this article is medical advice.