[tc2012]

My son was diagnosed with bipolar 2. He has been having symptoms of psychosis for several months. He has been taking Risperdol for 2 months. He seems better to me. He says he is not, he can just supress his feelings better. He says he feels like he is in a video game. Is this common among people with BP?

[jesusplay]

You should talk with his psychiatrist.

[Happy Camper]

Risperidone was a horrible drug for me. If he says he is not better, I would look into having his meds changed.

[manicplanet]

I know that when I was put on risperidone as well as olanzapine.. It felt as though I was imploding rather than exploding. So on the outside I seemed better but on the inside I was hurting really badly. It helps to talk to someone, my therapist helped me through a lot of that, until I finally switched my meds. I highly recommend dealing with a professional psychiatrist if you decide to pursue alternative medications.

[nbritton]

Originally Posted by tc2012

My son was diagnosed with bipolar 2. He has been having symptoms of psychosis for several months. He has been taking Risperdol for 2 months. He seems better to me. He says he is not, he can just supress his feelings better. He says he feels like he is in a video game. Is this common among people with BP?

What exactly do you mean when you say he feels like he is in a video game? Are you sure you're not confusing psychosis with perhaps an inability to articulate thoughts and feelings? If he said that to me I wouldn't jump to psychosis, I'd conclude that he feels as though he has no control over what is happening to him in his life. A straightforward diagnoses of bipolar type 2 precludes psychosis, so if your child is actually suffering from psychosis, I'm confused as to why his doctor has given him this diagnoses.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but if your son has psychosis, and it's not antidepressant induced, his diagnoses should be amended to include psychotic depression, or changed to schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia.

Psychotic depression is often due to an abnormality in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, I would consult an endocrinologist for a rigorous laboratory workup if this hasn't been done.

[venusss]

"feeling like in video game" sounds more like derealization than a psychosis.

[Trippin2.0]

Originally Posted by nbritton

A straightforward diagnoses of bipolar type 2 precludes psychosis, so if your child is actually suffering from psychosis, I'm confused as to why his doctor has given him this diagnoses.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but if your son has psychosis, and it's not antidepressant induced, his diagnoses should be amended to include psychotic depression, or changed to schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia

Psychosis is way more common in BP2 than many realize, and does not change your dx, same with mixed episodes, we need an actual MANIC episode to be labeled BP1.

Schizoaffective is only on the cards if psychosis is present sans a bp episode from either side of the pendulum, and I have NO clue why Schizophrenia is even suggested
There's also no reason to have a seperate dx of psychotic depression as having bp means you suffer from depression, that IMO would be splitting hairs yes, and adding unneccessary dx's to his file when BP accompanied by detailed notes says it all.

Just saying

[IndieVisible]

I definitely agree with the above posters, that is more like dissociation or depersonalizing or whatever, it doesn't sound like psychosis to me either. And don't worry! Even if it is. I get psychosis some times and I am highly functional and have been holding full time jobs for decades! We also don't know if the meds are making him feel like that. Talk to his pdoc.

[Trippin2.0]

Originally Posted by tc2012

My son was diagnosed with bipolar 2. He has been having symptoms of psychosis for several months. He has been taking Risperdol for 2 months. He seems better to me. He says he is not, he can just supress his feelings better. He says he feels like he is in a video game. Is this common among people with BP?

Nothing is really common except actual symptoms, we all have individual experiences as to how our bipolar manifests.

Him looking better, doesn't mean he feels or is doing better, I would listen to him when he says he's not. Risperdal put a lid on a lot of my "stuff", but it was always still there, bubbling beneath the surface, waiting for a chance to implode on me.

I can't really comment on the video game analogy, not enough detail, but if I must weigh in, I agree with Venus, sounds more like Derealization than psychosis.

Maybe if you could post some more detail we'd be more helpful? Like when you say psychosis for several months, do you mean him feeling as if he's been inside a video game for months or are there other factors? Like auditory, visual, tactile or olfactory hallucinations? If so, are they impairing his level of functioning? Etc...

From what you wrote, he seems terribly disconnected and I would urge him to alert his pdoc.

I agree a change of meds is in order ASAP. I've taken a few different antipsychotics and they started working pretty quickly - within a week. I had a bad psychotic break shortly after I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 1 ... my psychosis occurred during a mixed episode. I was having a lot of hallucinations (visual, auditory, tactile) and I was delusional for several weeks. My psychiatrist added Abilify to my meds and it helped immensely. I hope your son gets well soon. You sound like a great mom!

[tc2012]

Originally Posted by manicplanet

I know that when I was put on risperidone as well as olanzapine.. It felt as though I was imploding rather than exploding. So on the outside I seemed better but on the inside I was hurting really badly. It helps to talk to someone, my therapist helped me through a lot of that, until I finally switched my meds. I highly recommend dealing with a professional psychiatrist if you decide to pursue alternative medications.

Thank you, that helps. I do not think this is the right med.

[tc2012]

Originally Posted by nbritton

What exactly do you mean when you say he feels like he is in a video game? Are you sure you're not confusing psychosis with perhaps an inability to articulate thoughts and feelings? If he said that to me I wouldn't jump to psychosis, I'd conclude that he feels as though he has no control over what is happening to him in his life. A straightforward diagnoses of bipolar type 2 precludes psychosis, so if your child is actually suffering from psychosis, I'm confused as to why his doctor has given him this diagnoses.

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but if your son has psychosis, and it's not antidepressant induced, his diagnoses should be amended to include psychotic depression, or changed to schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia.

Psychotic depression is often due to an abnormality in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, I would consult an endocrinologist for a rigorous laboratory workup if this hasn't been done.

I appreciate your input. No, I am not sure of anything, My son is 24, he was diagnosed with BP2 at age 22. He was working, but struggling untill last September. He became obsessed with physics, and very bad depression, paranoid, anxiety. He thought he had powers and people could read all of his thoughts. His Dr. perscribed Lithium. He quit his job and moved home. He changed Psychiatrists, this one is not very helpful. He told my son his symptoms of feeling like he is in a video game, thinking everyone can read his thoughts, thinking everything that happens to someone is his fault, feeling invisible is Psychosis. He has not been able to work since this. He perscribed Risperidone. He has seemed more relaxed, but he says he is not. He has been taking it for 2 months.

[venusss]

reading thoughts? As in literally, or "people sure know I think of horrible stuff"?

invisible as in invisible or overlooked?

blaming yourself for everything...

this all could be a bad depression. I know some doctors like to call everything "psychosis" beginning with self-hatered... there may or may not be psychotic features... but I think working on stuff with competent therapist could help here.

[tc2012]

Originally Posted by rainyday107

I agree a change of meds is in order ASAP. I've taken a few different antipsychotics and they started working pretty quickly - within a week. I had a bad psychotic break shortly after I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 1 ... my psychosis occurred during a mixed episode. I was having a lot of hallucinations (visual, auditory, tactile) and I was delusional for several weeks. My psychiatrist added Abilify to my meds and it helped immensely. I hope your son gets well soon. You sound like a great mom!

Thank you for your input. We live in a small town, and our Psych choices are very limited. He thinks his symptoms of feeling like he is in a video game and feeling like everything he does is predetermined, or like he is in a dream, is a part of BP that he just has to live with
and will not get better. Do you think that is correct?
I beleive I am a good mom, but I can't help this situation much. He is 24 and feels hopeless and lost.

[tc2012]

Originally Posted by VenusHalley

reading thoughts? As in literally, or "people sure know I think of horrible stuff"?

invisible as in invisible or overlooked?

blaming yourself for everything...

this all could be a bad depression. I know some doctors like to call everything "psychosis" beginning with self-hatered... there may or may not be psychotic features... but I think working on stuff with competent therapist could help here.

Sometimes he thinks people literally can hear everything he is thinking. He feels like he is invisable like a ghost. He doesn't take depression meds. He is very depressed. He takes Lithium and Resperidone and Focalin.

[tc2012]

Originally Posted by rainyday107

I agree a change of meds is in order ASAP. I've taken a few different antipsychotics and they started working pretty quickly - within a week. I had a bad psychotic break shortly after I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 1 ... my psychosis occurred during a mixed episode. I was having a lot of hallucinations (visual, auditory, tactile) and I was delusional for several weeks. My psychiatrist added Abilify to my meds and it helped immensely. I hope your son gets well soon. You sound like a great mom!

Thank you for your input. We live in a small town, and our Psych choices are very limited. He thinks his symptoms of feeling like he is in a video game and feeling like everything he does is predetermined, or like he is in a dream, is a part of BP that he just has to live with
and will not get better. Do you think that is correct?
I beleive I am a good mom, but I can't help this situation much. He is 24 and feels hopeless and lost.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by tc2012

Sometimes he thinks people literally can hear everything he is thinking. He feels like he is invisable like a ghost. He doesn't take depression meds. He is very depressed. He takes Lithium and Resperidone and Focalin.

APs can act like downer in some.

[tarin6]

Focalin made my daughter experience "derealization" where she felt separate from everyone and it made her very withdrawn, spacey, foggy, and depressed.

This was b4 she was dx with BPII with Psychotic features and OCD ("pure" OCD - the kind with intrusive thoughts) but when I asked her if it made her feel like she could focus more, she said (hesitantly) "Yes…But, like, on the wrong things…" which, she later told me, meant that she focused more on her disorganized and obsessional thinking vs being more able to focus and engage with the outside world. Her teachers (who I purposely did not tell about the meds, so they would be objective) told me that in the few weeks she was on them, she got much worse in class and was very withdrawn.

Yes, it may also just be the wrong AP, but you need to put some pressure on this Doc. I know that when my DD finally got the right dx and the right meds(after several Pdocs, meds, Therapists and on her 2nd hospitalization), she was finally able to say she felt better and became more engaged in the world of "reality."

If your son says he doesn't feel a real change, then they haven't found the right med(s) or dosages and/or therapy (is he in therapy?). Not that it will be perfect, and it may take some time to find the right meds for him…But for the Doctor to, so early in the game, not even try to make any changes in order to help your son feel better and to, basically say he just has to "deal with it" as part of his dx -which may turn out to be true but, certainly, may not be - is either Professional laziness or ignorance, IMHO.

(Sorry for the run-on sentences - I don't have a lot of time:-)

Don't give up!!

Best of luck,
K

[absurd]

Originally Posted by tc2012

My son was diagnosed with bipolar 2. He has been having symptoms of psychosis for several months. He has been taking Risperdol for 2 months. He seems better to me. He says he is not, he can just supress his feelings better. He says he feels like he is in a video game. Is this common among people with BP?

I am also on riperdol and can relate to those feelings. I can say though that it is quite helpful and those out-of-body feelings did go away for me. Maybe if your son spoke with a therapist about how he feels that he's "suppressing" his feelings more now, he may come to realize that he's not actually suppressing anything. For me, meds have helped me filter through what old or new feelings were valid or not. If he's still feeling the things that he used to be feeling...it would be defeating the entire purpose of being on them.

Hopefully that makes sense? Good luck and stick with it. This too shall pass.

[IndieVisible]

I really don't fit in Bipolar I as I have never had a full blown manic episode. I do however have hypomania and can on occasion get psychotic. Certainly is splitting hairs. I keep reading however that more and more pdocs are understanding bipolar is a wider spectrum then once thought. The DSM may very well lay every thing out in perfect systematic order, however no two people are alike and one can fall any where in the spectrum and even be all over the map. I think and this is entirely my opinion as I am not a Dr. but in these situations pdocs are forced to place us where they feel we fit best. Also there is always a "in most cases" or "usually" clause in every thing, leaving the possibility open for not.