Hey everyone!

I recently was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, which I've read everything I needed to know about the disorder and well I do have to say, it describes what I've been dealing with. When I was diagnosed, my psychiatrist asked me a series of questions, told me I was bipolar, wrote my a script for lamictal, and then left kind of stunned. I am seeing a therapist but so far we haven't talked about ways I can make myself improve (we're still on my life story).

So what this ramble is mostly about is my concentration level. When I was manic, I could balance two jobs, take on a full schedule at school, and manage to do extremely well. Unfortunately, I also was extremely irritable, promiscuous, with more anxiety due to racing thoughts. I am also bipolar II so I mostly experience depression episodes. When I'm depressed I have a hard time concentrating which has really been hard to deal with.

I explained this to my doc but he seemed hesitant to start me on medication at all which I thought was weird because this disorder is affecting my everyday life. It's almost like I cannot be a normal thinking person and what's more frustrating is I can't control it. He said we'll try with the lamictal but if anything it has made me more sleepy and less motivated.

I want to be sharp and motivated not sleepy all the time, I hardly see this as an improvement.

He also mentioned he doesn't want me to be dependent on drugs, but they haven't offered another solution.

I guess I was hoping for some opinions on how to approach this matter. He is the doctor..

Sorry if this seems unorganized, I'm overwhelmed and a bit worried about my future and how to handle this disorder.