[bigbear68]

Hi there....I know some people here on PC but not too many....I hope to get some advice. I have had Borderline personality disorder for a long time, but I went to the doc a week ago and he said it sounds like I am bipolar too....but I dont have manic episodes and severd downs.....How could I be? He says that it comes in different degrees and My up and down may be just feeling happy for awhile and then depressed for awhile....is that so? I dont know...I just hope they figure out something...*sigh*

[Fox]

It could be, or be something else. If you have a pdoc they're more qualified for dxing mental illnesses than a GD

[yutzman]

Bipolar II is just the symptoms you seem to have. Also called 'mixed episodes' and 'rapid cycling'. It took almost 20 years for my diagnosois to become clear. It takes a pretty sharp Psych to see it so quickly......so join the crowd...keep posting and good luck..

I feel compelled to tweek a bit, yutzman (sorry!) But only with the statement, "Bipolar II is just the symptoms you seem to have." Perhaps it _can_ be, but I have it too and have severe and long lasting depressions and go hypomanic as well. Bigbear68 said no real ups or severe depressions. So, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. Might be cyclothymia. BP II does come in different degrees or course, but just felt compelled to point out that the symptoms Bigbear describes don't *necessarily* sound like BP II. That's all. Not trying to diagnose of course. Will chime in on highly recommending a P-doc over a GP. Bigbear, are you referring to a P-doc or GP? It's just too easy for someone who doesn't specialize to throw out terms without going in-depth and with the many nuances with psych stuff, so you'd want someone who specializes, yes? (I personally experienced a snap diagnosis --and treatment that made things worse-- with a GP, and can say for sure it's something to avoid. Yikes. Years of hell all because of an carelessly casual attitude towards psych diagnosis and treatment. GPs have a lot of areas to cover and sometimes don't want to admit they're out of their depth).

(It took almost 30 years to figure out what was going on with me -- not for lack of symptoms, but was around people who turned a blind eye and sweep these things under the rug-- so I hear ya there yutzman! It's a long time to suffer... )

Bigbear, good luck in getting it sorted out, and don't worry if it takes awhile to do so, sometimes it does. And remember, it's not so much the name as effective treatment, right?

[ava1enzue1a]

Sorry for a long post for such a (comparably) short original post. If you read all of this, God bless you my friend.

Hey guys, I think maybe I am realizing something. For so many people curious if they are actually “bipolar” or not, I think maybe a possible reason why it takes “so long” for some patients to be “diagnosed” as being so-called bipolar is because some psychiatrists, doctors and whatnot maybe actually do not want to recognize those very elevated moods as an abnormality (that would be great, as being less invalidating) along with the patients, but rather more the depressions as abnormalities of course, because it is of course the depressions that are so uncomfortable and distressing. I hope this is the case, because those very elevated moods are, I am certain, what to cling on to because of course that is when one feels the most alive and learns from life and can learn from mistakes if they do anything “stupid” while in manias, while also, God willing, the person in mania will get as little amount of judgement/attitudes of scowl as possible from their environment, as the manic person will probably just reflect that and either lash back in anger (possibly creating somewhat of a perpetual disaster - yikes! Something has got to give, who will be the one to pour out love first? I tend to be spiritual, God bless us, show us how to love, please) or shut back down in depression, and they do not need to be there in depression, it does virtually no good for the person. Why place the weights of burdens of the worries of others from the environment onto that person who just wants to be validated, loved? People in manic phases need to be VALIDATED, cared for, loved. Anyway, people with these “mood disorders,” the doctors probably empathize/identify with them on the same level as the patients, the distress, and just want to recognize the depression, that huge “flu in the soul” (sometimes I refer to what depression is) Now, when a “bipolar” diagnoses comes in, at first, the patient might then be glad they got their “condition” recognized, however, after some time, their manias/hypomanias/elevated moods, whatever, in those moods, the patient will probably go in-depth with themselves and life, probably find new perspectives, attempts at healing, reaching out, and if in that process they get rejected or misunderstood, and then if the patient complains about being “so irritable”, then the doctor will then look at it as, “well now I am treating your condition as ‘bipolar’ and not ‘depression’. DARN! Depression is really the bad news/downer, and not really the elevated moods associated with my so-called “bipolar”! So why the "bipolar" diagnoses? So, I also said that to say this- it is really DISTRESS, of any sort, and that is actually depression, dysphoria, anxiety, etc., that should be really taken care of and worked through, and that we shall live peaceful lives! Anyway like Innerzone above me said, I agree as well - it is not so much the name as effective treatment, right? And, all these “abnormal” moods actually probably are just coping mechanisms that have stemmed from underlying personal disturbances or problems which the patient probably does not want to directly deal with at the time being.

Now if any of that whole above theory/statement is invalid, and some doctors are really not that thorough/in-depth with their patients, and actually do not realize the patient IS affected by these HIGHS and LOWS that can be termed “bipolar” in their medical/psychiatric language, then I just wonder why/how they got their position as a pdoc in the first place (no, I am kidding…no one is perfect, even doctors, it just shows they are human like us and it just shows that psychiatry is not much of an exact science at all indeed, and that we shouldn’t really rely on them 100% for any “labels” or for a total “cure all” at all). However, perhaps their field can be used just as some of many “tools” in life to help us identify and work through our issues/distresses/whatever you may call them.

Anyway, back on track, whatever your case may be bigbear68, I hope you get whatever answers your curiosity is looking for, and I hope you get better, get through your downs, I know they can be irritating.

[Slothrop]

We're getting into that fuzzy zone where psychiatrists et al. start talking about "soft" bipolar and "maybe this, maybe that"...sometimes we're not sure what to think! There seems to be debate over where to draw the lines in the DSM-V.

My psychiatrist diagnosed me with bipolar II. After reading up what I can, I think she's correct...or at least as correct as one is going to be, with the ambiguities in the definitions.

For me it's mostly about depression, but has always been more complicated than depression alone. I don't have much in the way of hypomania, but I do have some erratic upswings, and certainly overall mood instability.

I agree with Innerzone, the important thing is just finding treatment that works...just make me feel better!

[bigbear68]

Im even more confused now than ever. I have a pdoc that told me this. I have thus far been diagnosed in the last 10 yrs as bpd, ptsd, major depressive and now bipolar? what the heck!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I WANT TO SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!

[ava1enzue1a]

(((((bigbear68)))))

Yeah don't rely so much on those psychiatric labels. Well I can at least speak for myself. I have learned that the hard way. I have had so many psych labels and meds thrown at me, and the funny thing is, is that over time, those pdocs, they can be just fooling themselves, along with me. Haha, sometimes it may even just be the pdocs themselves that are just driving me mad! Haha, God bless them. It is just their way, their language of communicating back and forth between each other as "professionals" on what is seeming to be manifesting on the outside that might be interfering with whatever you may be wanting to do with your life. We are actually (generally) the ones who seek them out for help, so they are probably like, "OH OK, hmmm so, I will pull out this fascinating DSM and try to analyze you and label you by this." It is perhaps not very accurate in identifying your real problems that need to be taken care of. Keep the communication open though, that is one of the keys to successful outcomes. And also, people, like situations, can change over time (which can also be inspiring, you wouldn't want to be stuck in a rigid, hopeless, depressing situation for a long time, would you?) so those diagnonsenses (oops, did I say that? haha, just kidding) diagnoses can change over time as well. Embrace change, change can be a "goodbye" to the old junk that was dragging you down before. Also, about those diagnoses, remember, DO NOT let those labels identify WHO you are; DO NOT BECOME your diagnoses. If you do, you are basically buying in on a big maladaptive joke. Rather, understand those labels/diagnoses as something that you were probably already affected by and just need to work through and that some professional is just throwing a name on.

I wish you all the best.

Oh bigbear68 big (big bear hug!) That can feel confusing for sure, but just remember, whatever name or names they put on what's going on with you, the most important thing is treatment that works! Best of luck in finding the right med or meds/therapy that works for you, because when you get the symptoms under control, you probably won't care *what* they call it.

[Slothrop]

I agree, it is frustrating! I was deemed to have "major depressive disorder recurrent" for years, then another doc said bipolar II. Bipolar II seems more accurate to me, but no label seems perfect.

[acw56]

I sometimes feel addicted to labels, when it comes to myself. I have been told that a really good doctor treats symptoms, not illnesses, because if she gets too caught up on treating a specific illness, her experience or assumptions might cloud her judgement, leaving you with untreated symptoms. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it sort of makes sense to me. I think people feel too often that once they "really know what's wrong with them" everything will be better, and unfortunately that's not always or often the case.