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Razzleberry said:
I am not using it as a 'badge of courage', only to get the correct treatment. If I had been accurately diagnosed 2 years ago, I may not be in this mess now. But I wasn't.

I think I had a medication-induced hypomania 2 years ago, when I started on meds for the first time in my life. At that point, I had no idea what symptoms to look for. But now, looking back, it seems clear to me that is what was going on.

I'm thinking Borderline because of relationship issues, the high impulsivity, and recurrent suicidal behavior. However, my reasons to doubt that are that I was never abused, and I do not self-injure. However, I do have self-destructive behavior that does not involve cutting.

Bipolar because of the strange erratic behavior I had 2 years ago....and again just recently. I don't think I'm classic bipolar I, but possibly II. Or just medication-induced, which doesn't actually fit a diagnosis.

Anyway...in some ways, you are right Riptide. It doesn't matter the diagnosis as long as I'm getting treatment. But it would sure be irresponsible for me to take 200 mg of Zoloft if I could be Bipolar, woudln't it?! And if I'm not making any strides with CBT, my therapist may want to try DBT. Just saying....while the label doesn't matter, the correct treatment does.

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If your doc prescribed the Zoloft, he/she know more about the diagnosis than you. And if you have a relationship with your p-doc, and if you were to experience dangerous hypomanic symptoms, you would call your p-doc. There is so much overlapping with drugs that just because you are on Lamictal does not mean you are Bipolar 2. Some Unipolar depressed people take all kinds of mood stabilizers. The question you should be asking "Is this med that p-doc suggests helping me? " Not "What is my diagnosis?"

Unless you are clearly Bipolar 1 or Schizophrenic or something where the exact type of medication is indicated, it is not "Take this for that." It is "Is this helping my symptoms?"

Studies after studies have shown that the therapy type does not matter. What matters is the therapeutic relationship between T and client.. Now clients may have a particular type of therapy they perfer like some hate CBT because it is short and not insightful, whereas others hate psychodynamic because it is long and in-depth.
But the truth is that the relationship provides the vehicle for change whether you are Borderline, Bipolar, OCD, Depressed, etc.

And DBT is mostly utilized for Borderlines who self-injure. DBT is a form of CBT that was developed to deal with the self-injury of Borderlines. It teaches skills to prevent the self-harm. The thoughts that are dealt with in DBT are similar to CBT.

Also, you can fit yourself into almost any diagnosis if you keep focusing on it. I would let the experts do their job.