Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapien
First off, welcome!!!
Sorry to hear you've been struggling with some hypomanic-like symptoms. While I can't diagnose you as I am not a doctor and you are not my patient, I will say it does sound like what my hypomanias are like. I don't know where you're from, but here we have community mental health centers where you can just walk in the door and ask for an evaluation and explain what's going on and they diagnose you and come up with a treatment plan (not ideal as I don't believe in diagnosing on the first date but anyways...). It's best to get in touch with a psychiatrist, maybe get a referral from your regular doc. The treatment usually involves mood stabilizers.
|
Thank you, Sapien! We don't have walk in clinics like that here (small town, USA) except for substance abuse associated with the medical clinic. I have reservations about being seen by anyone because being under the care of psychiatrists was a traumatizing experience. Like you said, though, I won't know unless I see someone. If the mood changes become disruptive enough, I will need to overcome that fear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soupe du jour
Welcome, bide! I'll just second Sapien's suggestion to get referred to a psychiatrist. Only they can diagnose you.
It requires an expert to decide if you have a mental illness or not. Certainly your having been psychotic is something a psychiatrist should know. As is your past psychiatric medications and its history. Did that old doctor actually say you were "psychotic"? You'd want to describe that actual experience to a doctor.
As a side note, if you suspect bipolar disorder, avoid referring to it as "BPD". I'd call it "bipolar disorder". Why I say that is because "BPD" is the abbreviation for "Borderline Personality Disorder" a whole other mental health disorder. I understand the confusion, though. If others have used that abbreviation for bipolar disorder, they were wrong to do so. A better choice is "BP". The medical community may also use "BAD" for "Bipolar Affective Disorder" but that abbreviation sorta looks "bad", so many with the disorder avoid it.
|
Wow, that was a massive mistake on my part. I do know that but wasn't thinking clearly when I wrote it.
Thank you so much for pointing it out. I apologize and hope that doesn't upset anyone...