any opinions?

I went for a physical today and my doc was curious if zoloft was right for me even though I told him I had been diagnosed with depression. He had me fill out a mood disorder sheet. He said according to that sheet he thought I might be Bipolar or ADD. Here are the questions I answered yes to.

. Has there ever been a period of time when you were not your usual self and...

...you felt so good or so hyper that other people thought you were not your normal self or you were so hyper that you got into trouble?

Yes


...you were so irritable that you shouted at people or started fights or arguments?
Yes

...you felt much more self-confident than usual?

Yes


...you got much less sleep than usual and found you didn't really miss it?

No
...you were much more talkative or spoke much faster than usual?

Yes
...thoughts raced through your head or you couldn't slow your mind down?

Yes

...you were so easily distracted by things around you that you had trouble concentrating or staying on track?

Yes

...you had much more energy than usual?

Yes
...you were much more active or did many more things than usual?

Yes


...you were much more social or outgoing than usual, for example, you telephoned friends in the middle of the night?

Yes

...you were much more interested in sex than usual?

Yes
...you did things that were unusual for you or that other people might have thought were excessive, foolish, or risky?

Yes

...spending money got you or your family into trouble?

Yes

2. If you checked YES to more than one of the above, have several of these ever happened during the same period of time?

Yes
3. How much of a problem did any of these cause you - like being unable to work; having family, money or legal troubles; getting into arguments or fights? Please select one response only.
Moderate Problem

Hi Halliebeth!

I'm assuming this questionaire was done by the request of your GP? I'm assuming that because you mentioned having a physical. I think you should be properly assessed by a pdoc, who is better qualified that a GP is. I don't recall seeing any questions on there about depression which is certainly a part of BP. Do you get depressed? All those questions, IMHO, are to determine if you are experiencing BP hypomania or mania. It would appear by your answers that you do. I have no knowledge of ADD, so I can't offer any opinion on that. Maybe somebody else can here. Like I said though, there are no questions that relate to depression and I'm not sure what to think of your final answer of saying that the symptoms listed cause 'moderate problems' for you. As I said, I do think you need to be properly diagnosed by a pdoc to know for sure. Don't think I was much help.

ty anyway. i do get depressed

Sounds like bp to me. I think that charting your moods on a daily basis for a while would be a good idea. this will help you get an idea if there is cyculary nature to your moods, the depression and the mania. Hope this helps. TgrsPurr

Hi Hallie, I can sure see why you are confused. The whole business of dx begins to feel sort of haphazard and imprecise, doesn't it.

It sounds to me like your general practioner doc, (yes?) genuinely noticed something about you and your chart that wasn't "adding up" in his mind. Then, it sounds like he backed up his hunch with the test you shared. Um, ya have to miss more than one out of ten to flunk that test. lol. Some of those symptoms you answered yes to are simply not part of a depression illness.

If you have a separate pdoc, I'd recommend scheduling another visit with him because of this encounter. You need to always have the best idea you can of just what your "disorder" is if you are to cope with it in any real way.

You are right to question the dx process, it is less than pin point accuracy that it offers. But it isn't something to shrug off either. Hope you follow through on this. You stand to improve your life for yourself. Many of us have been through changing and escalating dx's.

Keep posting, nice to hear from you.

thanks guys. i am going to talk to my therapist about it and schedule an appointment with my psych and ask him ALL about it.

i want you to follow through on this...it took a psychiatrist to diagnose my bi-polar...i had been treated for clinical depression for about 30 years..the difference is light years apart!! good luck, pat

LOL. I just realized I made up a word "ciculary". LOL. I meant to say cyclical. sorry, my bad.
TgrsPurr.

its all good. no prob