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Nammu · Oct 23, 2012, 06:03 AM

People get diagnosed by doctors. For many people either primary care doctors or a stay in a psych hospital is the first step toward a diagnosis of mental illness. Then they see a Pdoc or T who does an assessment, it used to be that assessments were done with the use of tests. Now it is usually an hour or a set number of hours with talking to the Pdoc or T who has had training in assessments specifically in mental illness. Insurance requires that you have a diagnosis to get treatment that will be paid for by them. If you are paying for it you do not need to be diagnosed quickly and can ask to take more time w/ the pdoc or T before they give you an official diagnosis.

The diagnoses you have will determine how much and what kind of treatment you get. Because mental health is not an exact science sometimes there will be a difference of opinion in diagnoses. There is a manual that doctors use for guidelines for the symptoms.

Medications are very individual and what works for one person may or may not work for someone else even if you are related. So there is a lot of experimentation. The most important part is communicating with your doctor, being honest and taking care of yourself no matter what your diagnoses is; eating right, getting sleep, and exercise. Educating yourself about your diagnosis is important and helps you work with your doctor to get the best medication with the least amount of side effects so you can do what you want in life.

You said several people have said you have bipolar but not if they were doctors. There are a lot of functioning people in the world with bipolar it is not a terrible illness and it is not the end of the world if that is what you have. You can have a full quality life. Just be honest with who ever you have the appointment with so that they can give you the best care they can.