Diagnosed with bipolar?

So long story short: I went to the psychiatrist because of psychosis and severe depression. Because I am under 18 I got prescribed.. something that I do not remember what it was, and I thought it would be some type of anti-psychotic but on the referral they gave me (so I can get the pills) it says "Bipolar Affective Disorder. Current episode - mixed"
Is psychosis just a part of Bipolar.. or did I just get my first misdiagnosis? Also I do not have mania.. just depression.. so confused. Someone please clear up things.

Psychosis during/as mania isn't uncommon. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), used to diagnose people in many cases (sometimes the ICD is used instead, which uses "affective" in the name, so maybe they've used the ICD), BP (bipolar disorder) is "technically" not a psychotic disorder. Mania is sometimes still considered a form of psychosis.

However, in the past, mania and were seen as forms of psychosis and (so) BP(-I) was seen as a psychotic disorder.

I think it should be called a psychotic disorder and mania and depression should both be seen as forms of psychosis. Now, people often only think of hallucinations and specifically hearing voices as psychosis. Many people can have mild/"background" hallucinations, though, without having BP or SZ (schizophrenia).

Being severely depressed, it could be that understimulation is the cause of hallucinations. Are hallucinations your main problem or also delusions, beliefs that are very strong, purely (started as) assumptions/epiphanies and make normal functioning difficult or impossible (they don't have to be wrong)?

Do you experience, or have you experienced, any euphoria/elation/ecstasy or lots of activity during the period of depression? If that isn't the case, a mixed episode is maybe not very likely.

Hi. For me, the articles that I'm linking helped a lot. It talks about the diagnosis of Bipolar. It breaks everything down in a very understandable way, meaning it explains nicely all of the psychological terms.
I like how breaks down the "mood spectrum", "specifiers", and "bipolar variation".
I'm hoping it helps you out. I've found many great articles on Bipolar here at Psych Central along with links to everything else I might find useful.
Also, I insisted for years that I did not have "mania", but I kept getting diagnosed bi-polar. I've come to realize that sometimes I can't clearly see my symptoms when others can.

Table of Contents | PsychEducation

Well the psychosis started out I think as fa as I remember before I would fall a sleep there would be a loud noise (this was years ago) then it switched to whispers, then I started seeing shadows of things that are not there, then falling items (like bottles, phones, even once a tree), I started stuttering because I couldn't concentrate on what I was thinking, this year I started hearing voices, having thought that are not my own (and not part of DID) that were telling me things like "Don't do this" "They know" "They will harm you" "You are worthless" and so on, now I am seeing human-like figures, I'm having a lot of meltdowns, also a bit of insomnia, I have quite more anxiety attacks, even after being prescribed Atarax. And this is almost every day. Yesterday I felt that something grabbed my leg. When I wake up I never know wheter the day will be okay or will I go through an episode and this leads up to anxiety.
When I have my depressive episodes the biggest activity I might do is go to school. I would put my earphones in and mostly sleep. Well most of the time I sleep. Because I have Dissociative Identity Disorder, or at least it looks like it, usually an altar will take over and do the socializing, and general things. If no one would come out I would just stay in my bed, without eating, drinking water, or even going to the toilet. So yeah, that's that..

Interesting. If you have these symptoms regardless of whether you are very active or not at all, it's not likely that you have BP. Schizoaffective disorder, depressive type, might be more accurate. If you do have mania (and indeed, it could be that you don't recognise it as such), schizomania, schizoaffective disorder, BP type, is probably a better diagnosis.

It's not unlikely that the person referring you (your GP?) isn't quite sure about the exact diagnosis (she/he can't be: it takes years for a good diagnosis, but you can get meds/treatment with a provisional BP diagnosis, so don't worry) and wanting to be careful, has not given you a (provisional) diagnosis of schizophrenia or anything on the schizophrenia spectrum.

So, schizoaffective disorder might be best, but which type depends on whether you ever experience mania.

But a psychiatrist should get to know you during some time to actually diagnose you properly.

At any rate, you are perfectly fit to join us here: we all have similar difficulties.



Edit:
I saw you have posted quite a lot already. You may (and I don't know if you have already) want to post here as well as maybe in the schizoaffective or schizophrenia forums. Most of us have experienced or still experience much like what you describe.

SZA, BP or SZ, it doesn't really matter that much, especially when compared to "normal people". As the brilliant mathematician, logician and linguist Lewis Carroll wrote: "We're all mad here. (...) You must be. Otherwise you wouldn't have come here."

The referral is from the psychiatrist, to my gp, from which the gp has to refer me for another psychiatrist who can prescribe the pills so I can get them for free. It's kind of a long process. The psychiatrist has seen me for about 4 or 5 sessions. I think she prescribed something because of the psychosis, and since this is the only medicine for kids under 18 and it might only be prescribed for Bipolar, so she just wrote it down, or maybe it's too early to know exactly what it is, or maybe I am too young, so probably the closest thing she could diagnose me with would be Bipolar. Thanks for the welcome!

Some antipsychotics can be used by those under 18, depending on the research done into its safety. An example (and probably the best candidate) is haloperidol (Haldol), a typical (older) antipsychotic.

Good luck with your GP visit and new psychiatrist. Hope you don't have to wait too long.

Abify is used under 18.

I think it is Abify, I remember it started with an "A" and that it sounded weird

It's Abilify (a typo, I'm sure). It is considered safe for those aged 15 and over.

It's also more antidepressive than most. More so than typical antipsychotics, but also many atypical ones. It could very well be better than haloperidol, in your case.

Oops sorry, Abilify is also given to children as young as 5.

It is Abilify, with a bit of research, I found that it is. Also it is the only medicine that can be prescribed, in Bulgaria, for kids of the age 13-16 ish 18 maybe

If 13, then 18 and 50. We're all children still.

Abilify has dual efficacy - BP and schizophrenia.

Keep in mind that mental illness has no pathology so your p-doc is taking your symptoms, adding them up, and presenting a diagnosis. BP 1 can come with some psychotic activity but not necessarily schizophrenia. Schizophrenia and BP 1 can look alike, especially when it comes to depression.

*Please* watch yourself with Abilify - it has some strong side effects, especially in teens.

My recommendation - dive in and do some research. Gain an understanding of everything, be an advocate for yourself, but try not to self-diagnose. Knowledge is power.

I did some little research and actually having BP does make sense but my mania consist mainly of psychosis.