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Originally Posted by willowbrook
I ended up driving him mad, I'm sure, for the next few months as I kept wanting to know what the difference between Schizoaffective and MDD with Psychotic Fx was, and which one did I have, exactly. I thought if only I could know exactly what was wrong with me I could somehow research ways to fix my brain and make myself better. In the end I had to accept that really one diagnosis over another doesn't always change the way things are treated.
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Haha I'm sure I do the same with my T and last T and Pdoc. Maybe there is an element of wanting to fix myself too.
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If you feel you are being adequately treated in all areas of your mental/emotional health, then how much does having a label of Bipolar 1 or 2 really matter?
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Because then I can force myself to pursue adequate med trials. I hate taking any medications. My siblings, father, and grandmother have all had full-blown psychosis, so I do have a concern about getting worse and getting the right treatment.
Borderline, bipolar, or both? Frame your diagnosis on the patient history Careful attention to conceptual distinctions may reduce the risk of misdiagnosis
http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/ind...1010&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=178050
This article also helped tremendously. The history is a key issue; the problem is, you don't have as much of a history until you get older!
My last therapy was about the relationship/attachment, which is treatment I needed, but I feel like I worked through all of those issues and don't need that anymore. The topics that come up consistently in my current therapy seem mostly related to bipolar symptoms rather than emotional issues pertaining to life events. For example, I feel distress about having the cognitive problems and fatigue/lack of energy, but not distressed by other things in my life. I am also beginning to see that my in my last T, we focused too much on borderline/attachment stuff and minimized my need for med treatment.
I also realized that the ADD meds helped over the last couple years, for one, because I always said they made me feel "normal". I am now thinking that is because I was mostly in a hypomanic phase for a few year prior, and the ADD meds can be energizing. Before I got PTSD, I never had focus or concentration issues. Bipolar can be triggered by PTSD. I never had consistent PD traits, so I've been attributing personality changes to DID.
These realizations all came from my current therapy. It's all coming together now.
edit I can't get the article link to work.
Google "current psychiatry Borderline, bipolar, or both Frame your diagnosis on the patient history" and it should come up. Sorry.