Posted by OzLand on July 19, 2007, at 20:40:10
In reply to losing my mind ***si triggers***, posted by LlurpsieNoodle on July 19, 2007, at 20:07:28
I am really sorry that the "diagnosis" has thrown you over the edge because a diagnosis is just a diagnosis. You are you, not a diagnostic category.
I have had so many diagnoses over the years I am not sure I can count them all. From the time I was age 18 to the present I have been diagnosed as Schizophrenic (that was fun) with all sorts of add ons like chronic, undifferentiated. Those were the old state hospital backward schizophrenics. I have been diagnosed with depression of varying degrees, borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorders, eating disorder, but never bipolar but it was questioned at one hospitals psych dept that I will never returne to again, the ECT hospital.
For one thing, bipolar is the new fad diagnosis right now; lots of people are now being diagnosed as bipolar. Are they really bipolar or are they BPD or dissociative disorder, etc etc.
When I was at Menninger's my pdoc laughed about all the diagnoses I had been given over the time before I landed in what came to be the best psychiatric hospital in the U.S. (only #7 now). Anyway, even later my pdoc at Menningers told me I was likely misdiagnosed there as well because they did not know that much about the varios dissociative disorders back in the early 80's. So, back then I at least got to get rid of the diagnosis of Schizophrenia but ended up with Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depression. Later, I was told that I likely was not BPD after all, that I had dissociative identity disorder that I have worked on (and now the part I left behind--dealing with the csa more thouroughly). Anyway, what worked for me then was to add lithium to my antidepressant medication.
Even now my analyst wants me to think more seriously about lithium and a small dose of Abilify. He is an expert on bipolar disorder and does not think I am bipolar. HE is also expert in csa and eating disorders. I cannot tell you how thankful I am to finally have the right therapist now that I am back in my home state.
Bottom line; maybe you are and maybe you are not bipolar. At the least you do seem to have the affective instabiliy that many people have who have abuse in their background (and I mean abuse of any sort). I hope you can step back and see that this really is just a name for how you seem now.
poster:OzLand
thread:770579
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070714/msgs/770625.html