[mugwort2]

My dx bipolar, OCD, ADD, Tourettes, PTSD Last one by psychologist
By psychiatrist I only mean by a board certified pdoc. I don't mean a resident or intern.
This isn't about me. Its a curiosity question. I guess my query is on how long can it take to diagnose somebody with bipolar disorder?

[~Christina]

Depends on your particular history and symptoms. Some people present with a history and classic Bipolar.. If that is the case then Yes a diagnosis can be made easily.

In some cases the Pdoc will take time to make a diagnosis.

Depends on many factors.

Welcome to PC

[Nammu]

Personally I don't believe any psych diagnosis in an hour. Not from one person. A psych diagnoses takes history and behavior.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

It probably depends on the dr. I was diagnosed by a dr. who specializes in bipolar and is world-renowned for his work in the field. He not only diagnosed me in an hour after about 15 minutes he was able to predict the patterns that my moods fall into and since I have dysphoric manias and long, long mixed episodes and rapid cycle that's not particularly easy to do. I had to have someone there for him to verify what I was saying and he did that by looking over my shoulder for her to nod or shake her head at times and he really had pretty much everything figured out in minutes although the entire assessment was closer to an hour.

The pdoc I had before that never diagnosed it but when I went in and said "I think I have this because____ and my therapist agrees" she changed my diagnostic code. So I guess she diagnosed it in about 8 minutes which was all the time she ever spent with me. Except I don't think she'd have caught it ever, even if I were still seeing her now (14 years later). Even after changing the code she put me on meds that were totally wrong for someone with the symptoms I had (very manic, probably mixed, highly dysphoric, only mood stabilizer was lithium which wasn't helping (put on that to decrease suicidal ideation) and she added a ton of prozac which caused akathesia AND more severe mania until I finally came down to earth for 5 minutes and realized what was happening and quit taking it and got myself to the specialist.)

My current dr I'm fairly sure would know in a session but would probably see someone several times before making a diagnosis because she is cautious like that. She likes to be 100% confident before she says anything.

[Victoria'smom]

First pdoc said I had everything from IED to Mood disorder NOS. Second intake took 4+ hrs but dx came in less then an hour. Third intake took 4+ hrs but dx in less than an hour. Yes I do feel an hour is good for initial dx.

[WibblyWobbly]

My first diagnosis was Mood Disorder NOS but my pdoc didn't know my history, it was just based on my symptoms when I went IP. After we sat down and talked a little more he diagnosed me Bipolar NOS in about 15 minutes. He was my pdoc for the next 2 IP hospitalizations, 2 PHPs, and now outpatient, and he is firm in his diagnosis. If the pdoc is able to get enough history in an hour, then yes, a diagnosis is possible.

Most pdocs that I see for the first time tell me that their initial diagnosis is subject to change (unless they've had me go through testing).

[Fuzzybear]

I don't believe that any psych. or other doctor has the ability to make a useful diagnosis in an hour or less. IMHO.
(As another poster said, it takes history and "behaviour"...)

[BleakGeek]

It depends. I went in not knowing what the he11 was wrong with me. I only went because my suicidal thoughts got worse and I had anhedonia and didn't know what was going on. I only told the pdoc what was wrong with me at that time. I didn't tell him my full history because I couldn't remember most of it and I thought my hypomania was just me feeling extra good. He11, I never even heard of hypomania before. I only heard of mania and that you had to have a psychotic episode to even be considered bipolar. It wasn't until my wife came with me and started rattling off what I did in the past and how I've been depressed for most of 8 years that the pdoc dx me. He's like, "I can't properly diagnose you if you don't tell me eveything." So he probably can if he knows every little detail of your life.

When I went in to see my pdoc, I went in with testimonials, charts, graphs, notes, history, and I walked out with beeper meds. A lot of the work is up to you. For a pdoc to figure it out, it can take months to years if it's left just up to him.

[scatterbrained04]

My pdoc was able to diagnose me within an hour base on my responses to his questions. I did fill out a massive packet of questions before I went in to see him. I feel pretty confident in my diagnoses.

[cashart10]

From what I understand, if a patient is acutely manic, they can diagnose in 5 minutes. Otherwise, no way.

[mugwort2]

It seems to me from the responses there is no yes or no answer. It seems like my question is kind of controversial. Looks like it depends on the pdoc and one's symptoms at the time of the diagnosis Thanks everyone for your input.

[BleakGeek]

I thought this fit with this thread. It is from an article from the Guardian.

As a first-year medical student, there is nothing quite as exciting as your first-ever clinical placement, where you can finally feel like a doctor in training. That is, unless you’re placed in psychiatry. Having learnt how to perform numerous examinations and procedures such as taking blood, your placement is a chance to finally put these skills into action on real patients.

With psychiatry, however, the emphasis is on developing the skill of speaking to patients and taking detailed histories, with little – if any – practice of procedures and examinations. You must learn to understand and evaluate a person’s thoughts, emotions, and experiences, to lead towards diagnosis, treatment and management. Attempting to decipher the complexity of the human mind, while taking in to account biological and social aspects? Quite unnerving.

[sui generis]

Yes if it's straight forward and they have your history on file. I think that's pretty standard. It'd be unrealistic for it to take longer in the public system in my country because pdocs are always changing anyway and they have too many patients to see. My case was fairly obvious though. However they wouldn't diagnose you if they weren't sure (at least if they were responsible).

[raspberrytorte]

I think they can too, if they have your history on file, can see presenting symptoms and have a family member to back up what you're saying. I think in a situation like that all they have to is connect the dots.

If you don't have a history on file, I think they'd probably have to wait.

A doctor can diagnose bipolar in a matter of minutes just to get you out and get another client in to do the same to them. Now if it's right, that's another story. To some doctors, everyone is bipolar. The faster you DX bipolar to more patients, the more money you get to charge insurance companies for a bigger paycheck.

Yes, it's true as sad as it sounds.

My diagnosis was made over a period of time, in consultation with two psychiatrists and the observations of a GP.

My family doctor (years and diagnosed me with depression but recognised something more was wrong) suspected it and referred me to a psychiatrist for an assessment. That psychiatrist referred me to a second. I since see an additional one for therapy and she has again confirmed the same diagnosis.

[Cocosurviving]

I was wrongly dx in an hour with "adjustment disorder" and given an AD which flipped me to mania. I changed pdocs and therapist. This time even though I came in manic they still went through the process of getting my history and observation. I was taken off the AD right away and put on a mood stabilizer the first day. My pdoc and therapist worked together and could read each other's notes...abt four weeks later my pdoc broke the news to me "BP1".

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[Edgar's Mom]

I think it also very much depends on the person's age and what is going on in their life. Younger people are often misdiagnosed with other things and the bipolar is often missed. When some is living a very chaotic lifestyle with drugs/alcohol or in abusive relationships etc I think it gets more complicated.

If I walked in to just about any pdoc, 46 years old, happily married with a very stable life, and describe my cycles of alternating energy where I re-paint entire houses or reorganize all furniture, or take on huge projects and do lots of art, then describe the crippling depressions where I completely withdraw from my friends and hide in my house till it passes weeks later, it seems pretty obvious.

When I was younger, in terrible relationships and doing drugs etc, they missed it entirely. My GP always thought it was my situation. She didn't even diagnose me with depression until I was in a stable relationship and should have been happy.

It wasn't till much later that I mentioned how great I felt and was telling her about re-painting or re-organizing my entire house that she clued in to that. She diagnosed me with BP then but there was no way to get a referral to a pdoc for anyone who wasn't psychotic in that town and she treated me for years.

Much later I went to a pdoc who diagnosed me with BP 2 depressive type, the next two in a row agreed, and one of them added on GAD. My current doc I've seen for a year, I just asked him if he still agrees with those diagnoses and he didn't hesitate. It was an emphatic yes.

It's a lot simpler for these last docs that I've seen since being in my 30's and 40's than the ones who saw me in my teens and 20's.

I agree with cashat. If acutely manic (as in needing hospital) they can diagnose bp.

But there is no way they can get a pattern of personality and behaviour from a patient who will be lacking insight on a first meeting.

It takes a long time to get a correct diagnosis. They can and do diagnose bp to get the meds or for insurance cover.

[Unrigged64072835]

It took over twenty years for me to get a BD diagnosis, and that was when my pdoc realized that all the ADs I was given weren't going to work. I was previously diagnosed with MDD and GAD. I guess if it presents itself as classic symptoms then diagnosis would be quick. It just wasn't in my case.

[BastetsMuse]

Originally Posted by mugwort2

My dx bipolar, OCD, ADD, Tourettes, PTSD Last one by psychologist
By psychiatrist I only mean by a board certified pdoc. I don't mean a resident or intern.
This isn't about me. Its a curiosity question. I guess my query is on how long can it take to diagnose somebody with bipolar disorder?

If there's a bunch of symptoms that the psychiatrist is looking at the scream "bipolar," sure he can diagnose it in an hour -- or less. That's what happened to me. It was accurate.... and that was over twenty years ago now.

[Cocosurviving]

Originally Posted by BastetsMuse

If there's a bunch of symptoms that the psychiatrist is looking at the scream "bipolar," sure he can diagnose it in an hour -- or less. That's what happened to me. It was accurate.... and that was over twenty years ago now.

I guess you were lucky. Because my symptoms didn't scream "bipolar" so he was not able to "correctly" diagnose me in an hour--or less. This was in 2012. He dx me with adjustment disorder gave me AD med (Celexa). After I became manic from the AD....I had a lot of mania fun---shopping, partying and staying up all night, getting behind in bills, starting projects and never finishing them, grandiose thinking etc. I ended up in another docs office after a friend sat me down and point out things they noticed that was not like me. So I went to another doc, walked in manic and they told me to stop taking the Celexa. I was given a mood stabilizer and went from there but it wasn't in an hour.

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[Samantha26643]

I dont think it can be done in under an hour?

[mugwort2]

I thank everyone of you for responding. I get the impression it depends on the pdoc and how obvious the symptoms are. So there is no definite answer.