Is Charlie Sheen Bipolar or is there something else wrong with him?

Dear Ask The Doctor: I was wondering if you could give us your opinion on what and if you think there is something wrong with Charlie Sheen. His interview on Good Morning America and 20/20 is a very interesting case and I would love to know what medical professionals think he is suffering from.

Dear Charlie Sheen Fan: There is no way I or any other doctor could provide a mental health diagnosis based on a few interviews and rumours.  Such a diagnosis requires a knowledge of the patients medical history and an interview examining the patients moods, thoughts and behaviours.

It is not uncommon in my practice to interview patients during several 1 hour appointments over periods of weeks to months to finally come up with a diagnosis.  Even after coming up with a possible mental health diagnosis, all other possibilities have to be ruled out such as medication side effects, substance abuse, medical complications and life stresses.

So after taking all this into consideration, it may be best to conclude that Charlie Sheen responded inappropriately in some recent interviews and leave it at that.

If you want to know more about biolar specifically, there are several already well answered questions on this site. Here as an example of one of our questions: http://www.askthedoctor.com/index.php/topics-a-z/218-bipolar-disorder/50512-symptoms-similar-to-bipolar-disorder.html