high functioning??

Victoria'smom · 11:24 AM

Okay, in another post there were several of us that feel we are high functioning but I was thinking how did we get diagnosed then?

Most of us seem to have symptoms from as long as we can remember so how would we know?

I know they no longer use the GAF but what do you think your average score would be both in average episode and base line? I think it'll only let me post one poll but let's see.

I think in episodes I'm high teens to low 20's. Outside episodes I'd say I'm low 60's.

venusss · Feb 27, 2014 at 11:26 AM

What if I have some symptoms all the time, but manage to function with them?

I mean, I passed my master's state exam half-psychotic. Gotten lost on the way to school, been hallucinating a bit prior...

I can function if I can focus. Of course, sometimes I slip into the weird territory of not knowing how to do the basic ****, missing chunks of time in my memory... I have problem with relationship and get frequent out of body experiences....

I honestly can't judge.

Victoria'smom · Feb 27, 2014 at 11:36 AM

The way I see it is if the symptoms are there most of the episode. I can pass test when I can't understand spoken English ( my first language) I judged it by how I am "behind closed doors".

Curiosity77 · Feb 27, 2014 at 11:40 AM

I have a hard time picking out a GAF for myself because I function highly in some areas, and quite symptomatic in others. When I was admitted to hospital my GAF was 25. A year later when I was reassessed it was 65. When I was in grad school I was probably in the 20s or 30s, but I still managed to complete the program and work full time, just living in a mixed state hell, and totally suicidal for a lot of it. I think I'm probably still around a 60 or 65 for GAF now, maybe a little lower. But I think my SOFAS is is closed to 75. That's the chart for social and occupational functioning. I think I'm higher than GAF because I work full time and I have friends. I'm not sure if you average the 2 scores for the overall psychopathology score, or if you take the lower. At my work we take the lower for people, but that's for research purposes. Clinically we use both scores.

Curiosity77 · Feb 27, 2014 at 11:42 AM

Oops, I hit 60-70 in the poll, but then I saw that it's for episodes. When I'm unwell, it is more like 20s and 30s. I don't think I can change my score on the poll.

wildflowerchild25 · Feb 27, 2014 at 12:02 PM

I just happened to find the paperwork from my July hospitalization a few days ago. They placed my GAF at 49. Pretty good I think.

I'm actually very high functionin even in the grip of a nasty episode. Even in august when I was psychotic and manic as hell I could hide it. Hell I was in the ER getting stitches for a cut wrist and then at a concert with my sister in law a few hours later. She never knew.

In my family that's just what you do. Suck it up buttercup and act like it's ok. It's only when I can't take it anymore that I crack, and it's always a conscious decision. Except for rage and self injury which are often impulsive in a mixed state.

Nightside of Eden · Feb 27, 2014 at 12:04 PM

I selected 41-50, though like others I'm more functional in some areas than others. I maintain relationships MUCH better than I function in a work environment. I can only work from home because the stress of going out to a job every day overwhelms me even on meds, but I'm engaged and have a handful of friends I've maintained relationships with through many episodes, as well as being fairly good at making new social relationships and maintaining relationships within my family.

I probably function at a 65-70 average when I'm not having episodes. If I could just pull the work thing together I'd be very high-functioning, but, yeah, I haven't managed that.

Feb 27, 2014 at 12:36 PM

At the worst point of my episodes, I sit in that 21-30 range.

Feb 27, 2014 at 12:59 PM

I graduated from a 5 year degree program in 3. I was completely manic at the time. I spent 7 years in the Navy and can hold down a full time job. That's why my doc calls me high functioning. But it really aggravates me. The episodes feel like I'm insane and my head is going to explode with all the thoughts and ideas.

Trippin2.0 · Feb 27, 2014 at 05:09 PM

I'm 21-30 when a major episode peaks. This usually happens about every 3 months. I mostly either call in to work sick, or make an effort to avoid contact as much as possible and then find an excuse to leave early so I can be alone and fall apart in peace.

On an average day, baseline or "normal" cycling through different mood states (which is on average weekly) I'd say I'm on the 61-70 scale.

Pdocs have called me high functioning, a label I both detest and take pride in. For the most part it means I can hold down a job, have personal relationships and be a good parent, but on the flipside, nobody really sees me suffering until I come undone.

medicalfox · Feb 28, 2014 at 12:16 AM

I'm kind of odd and according to that scale I'm below a 20, but I have friends, go to college, and have a job. I don't have good hygiene, very self harming/offing, hallucinations and delusions, but I press on and do my best. What would I be considered? Can I still be high functioning with a bad grade? I'm pretty sucessful for my age, but not mentally well.

Victoria'smom · Feb 28, 2014 at 01:53 AM

See that's why I put myself so low also. I almost become mute when depressed. I have a handful of friends that are very close nit but far away. I can keep up appearances in either state but still have intensely recurring homicidal/suicidal thoughts. I play so nicely with others that even living with me it's not completely known. Only the depression is seen and it's so lightly seen that it's usually attributed to laziness but what my husband, pdoc and t see/hear would shock anyone else in my life.

Nightside of Eden · Feb 28, 2014 at 11:52 AM

Miguel'smom, that's very close to my experience, though I put myself higher. I have a LOT of problems communicating verbally when I'm depressed, but I still appear a lot more functional than I feel inside. It's pretty hard for me to guess where I'd fall on functioning scales, really. I'm rapid cycling and it varies from hour to hour sometimes.

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Anonymous100110 Guest Posts: n/a	Feb 27, 2014 at 12:36 PM #8 At the worst point of my episodes, I sit in that 21-30 range.
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Anonymous32734 Guest Posts: n/a	Feb 27, 2014 at 12:59 PM #9 I graduated from a 5 year degree program in 3. I was completely manic at the time. I spent 7 years in the Navy and can hold down a full time job. That's why my doc calls me high functioning. But it really aggravates me. The episodes feel like I'm insane and my head is going to explode with all the thoughts and ideas.
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Nightside of Eden Member Member Since Feb 2011 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 378 13 3 hugs given	Feb 28, 2014 at 11:52 AM #13 Miguel'smom, that's very close to my experience, though I put myself higher. I have a LOT of problems communicating verbally when I'm depressed, but I still appear a lot more functional than I feel inside. It's pretty hard for me to guess where I'd fall on functioning scales, really. I'm rapid cycling and it varies from hour to hour sometimes.
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