[tmadison19]

Has anyone been diagnosed with Bipolar NOS? I have bipolar NOS, generalized anxiety disorder, psychotic paranoia, OCD, PTSD, and major depressive disorder. I take Lamictal 200mg. I dont think its enough. I've been hospitalized, briefly, 3 times recently and threatened with involuntary commitment twice (most recently yesterday). I'm starting to think that might be my only option to get stabilized.

[BuggsBunny]

Who has been threatening you with commitment? If it's your pdoc (Psychiatrist) then you should go and do a Voluntary admission. You have a lot more control over your inpatient experience (and discharge date) if you go in by your own will.

That said, you didn't say what symptoms had you in the hospital the last three times, or why someone was threatening to commit you now. If you are willing to give us that information we on the forum will be better equipped to give you our advice.

[hartbroken]

I think I have the same thing - bipolar unspecified, or bipolar schizoaffective I've been told.

[blossom12]

The times you were hospitalized, did you feel stabilized by the time you were discharged? Have you been on other meds? did you follow up for treatment after discharge? Seems like there are many issues you did not go into here.

As a nurse, the times I know of people being invol. admitted was for suicidal ideation, plans to committ suicide, or harm others, or hallucinations. It is, of course, based on what you tell whomever it is you were assessed by.

A patient would either be admitted for the safety of self or others, or because the patient can't be stabilized on meds outpatient. Just being on the one med doesnt sound like it has achieved it's goal for you.

let us know how you are doing.

[tmadison19]

I was taken to a psych unit at a local hospital for evaluation a few times. I said something to my physical therapist...nothing like "I'm going to kill myself" but that I didnt want to do therapy that day which she knew was completely out of the ordinary for me and she started prodding and it all came out :-/ So, being she is a required reporter, I was taken to the hospital. They found a knife in my pocket (which I always carry) and assumed that I was going to use it to hurt myself. They didnt believe me when I told them I just carry it. So, mainly its been the mental health professionals that work for the state that have threatened me with commitment. I want to go where I can get help on an inpatient basis and go somewhere to get stabilized because I havent been successful in doing it on my own. I dont eat or sleep on a regular basis. If I do it, its only around 500 calories a day. Its really hard for me to keep on my meds and do basic things for my health, something as simple as drinking water to stay hydrated doesnt even appeal to me. I can't commit myself though because my family has no idea that I am mentally "ill"...my husband knows, but even he doesnt know the extent of things. I never felt stabilized leaving the hospital. I was held by security and put in four point restraints each time. I just told them what they wanted to hear and "contracted" for my safety and was finally allowed to leave. Each time feeling the same and feeling like I should have just gone with commitment :-/

[cocoabeans]

You mentioned worries about your husband coming to realize how bad off you are right now. I'm just going to speak from experience on this one so, if you don't relate and this doesn't make sense, don't worry. I'm full of it most of the time.

I have bipolar and my husband does as well. We've been together for nearly ten years but, it was only in the last few that we started to be able to say things like, "You seem a bit off, (the dreaded m word) manic maybe, are you taking your meds?" Or "I'm concerned about how down you've been lately." Second one not as bad. Before, it was hinting, ignoring and fighting, "who are you calling manic?" It got to crisis situations and something had to be done, moved to meds and help. We love each other and needless to say, we're both accustom to emotional and mental chaos so, we stay with it and learned some things about each other and ourselves, patterns and approaches. One, mental illness is tiring. It isn't easy to say or hear that something serious is going on. I think in some ways it is as difficult to admit that what is going on with your spouse is so serious and very difficult to approach. Two, mental illness is terrifying but, so is everything else sometimes.

My point is that your husband may not admit or even be fully aware or comfortable approaching the topic. Don't dwell on that or fears of what he might know or think. Admitting that you need help is frightening enough. Trust in your relationship and yes, some days that means making that choice to trust when you feel or think you'd rather not.

You want help. It sounds like there are people willing to help you. Take that opportunity.

That being said. I don't trust inpatient either, have you tried being slightly more open with your current doc or even straight up asking to add an antidepressant or whatever? Maybe as extension of my little tangent, one could conclude that when you're exhausted and don't want to go on, trust. Your only other option is to stop breathing.

Am I even making sense anymore? Sorry.

[tmadison19]

Originally Posted by cocoabeans

You mentioned worries about your husband coming to realize how bad off you are right now. I'm just going to speak from experience on this one so, if you don't relate and this doesn't make sense, don't worry. I'm full of it most of the time.

I have bipolar and my husband does as well. We've been together for nearly ten years but, it was only in the last few that we started to be able to say things like, "You seem a bit off, (the dreaded m word) manic maybe, are you taking your meds?" Or "I'm concerned about how down you've been lately." Second one not as bad. Before, it was hinting, ignoring and fighting, "who are you calling manic?" It got to crisis situations and something had to be done, moved to meds and help. We love each other and needless to say, we're both accustom to emotional and mental chaos so, we stay with it and learned some things about each other and ourselves, patterns and approaches. One, mental illness is tiring. It isn't easy to say or hear that something serious is going on. I think in some ways it is as difficult to admit that what is going on with your spouse is so serious and very difficult to approach. Two, mental illness is terrifying but, so is everything else sometimes.

My point is that your husband may not admit or even be fully aware or comfortable approaching the topic. Don't dwell on that or fears of what he might know or think. Admitting that you need help is frightening enough. Trust in your relationship and yes, some days that means making that choice to trust when you feel or think you'd rather not.

You want help. It sounds like there are people willing to help you. Take that opportunity.

That being said. I don't trust inpatient either, have you tried being slightly more open with your current doc or even straight up asking to add an antidepressant or whatever? Maybe as extension of my little tangent, one could conclude that when you're exhausted and don't want to go on, trust. Your only other option is to stop breathing.

Am I even making sense anymore? Sorry.

thank you I am working on being more open with my counselor. I trust him a lot more than anyone else I've ever worked with. Back in August of 2011, I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre, a rare disabling but treatable disease. I went from playing sports one day to being completely paralyzed the next. This threw our whole routine and family through a loop. My husband hardly left my side. I guess thats part of why I dont want to tell him more...he's been through so much (I almost died twice). Now I feel like dropping the bombshells of the severity of all my mental illnesses combined might be too much for him right now. I dont want to stress him. Maybe I'm waiting for the right time??? Idk...I want him to know...but I dont want to worry him :-/

[BuggsBunny]

I can understand your wanting not to stress your hubby out, but he has already proven how much he loves you. And I can understand your wanting to wait some time before you hit him with another chronic illness.
However, this is not something you should be keeping secret from your own spouse. He may resent that you didn't trust him with the truth in the long run, as you are basically suffering alone.

My suggestion: Tell him the truth, followed by the fact that you are getting help, and right now you just wanted to let him know. That will give him time to digest the information, before you tell him just how you are doing. If he asks how you are doing, then it will be up to you to tell him just how bad that you are right now. But definitely allow him time to come to terms with your disease at his own pace.

Hope this help some.

[thickntired]

That is exactly what I was diagnosed with - bipolar nos