I'm sorry your hands are tied right now. That must be very frustrating for you. Hopefully you and your current pdoc can come to a better understanding of what's happening.

I wonder if your mother wasn't simply just upset that you may have spent too much, as opposed to your shopping at all. It would have been okay for you to shop for it in the US, right? So it wasn't really the shopping that bothered her. I agree, though, it is unnerving when our loved ones seem hypervigilant about our actions and perceive every good mood as mania. It may be helpful to sit down with her (or anyone in your life who tends to monitor your moods excessively) and have both of you write down what you each think mania or depression looks like. What behaviors do each of perceive as abnormal? It helps if you can give her clear cut parameters, like hours of sleep, dollar amounts or frequency of shopping, buying 8 pairs of shoes instead of 2, having multiple romantic partners in a short time, social withdrawal, changes in eating patterns, etc, etc. Then you can understand what worries her and you can help her put things into perspective. My husband and I have had similar conversations.

One word of caution...and I'm not sure how much long distance traveling you have done (so please don't take this the wrong way...), but when you come to the US, be mindful of the effects of crossing time zones. It can really mess with things.