I was originally Dx'd by a GP and put immediately on a mood stabilizer. Then referred to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist played around with my meds and dx. every month. I was more unstable with her (and so was my husband) then we ever had been. We moved I got a good pdoc. We were both immediately dx'd with bipolar. I immediately got tagged as BP w/ psychosis. All of our other dx's came later once we were stable.

If I had the option I would try therapy before resigning myself to forever meds. I could never keep a mood chart I did much better with a tweaked version of this that also included hrs slept, notes and if I did/n't take my meds.

ultramar- depending on the therapists qualifications they can Dx. mental health issues. In some states they can even prescribe medication.