[Blaire]

There's no doubt in my mind, or in the minds of the two psychiatrists I've worked with, that I have bipolar disorder. My current psychiatrist is on the fence as to whether I have type 1 or 2, as she believes an episode I had several years ago may have been full-blown mania. As neither of us are sure, my diagnosis currently remains type 2.

I was diagnosed three years ago, and since then I've had a lot of treatment for various mental health issues. I've interacted with several mental health professionals who are not psychiatrists, and every single one of them has questioned my diagnosis. Some have dismissed it outright with "oh that gets misdiagnosed all the time." They attribute my mood fluctuations to other problems like alcoholism or anorexia. My current therapist blamed it on my childhood and poor coping skills until I got fed up and told him the story of how I was diagnosed. Now he believes me, but it was a very painful conversation to have with him, and it made me extremely upset for days.

All the questioning and dismissal has made me feel stupid, and I've been reluctant to discuss my disorder with my treaters for fear of ridicule. It's too hard to have the conversation over and over to justify the diagnosis.

I think that it was irresponsible for them to pull my attention away from my disorder because, during the past year, all of the major problems I've had began during obvious bipolar episodes.

I question whether it's ethical for non-psychiatrists to try to pick apart diagnoses made by actual psychiatrists. The history that led to my diagnosis was very painful, and I don't like having to explain it to every treater just so they will trust the judgment of an actual doctor. Two of them, actually.

Have you guys dealt with people questioning your diagnosis?

[Astridetal]

I don't have bipolar, but I can relate to your diagosis being questioned. My diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder keeps being questioned even though I've been assessed a few times. Doesn't help that y parents, who are in denial, claim that the psychologist who did the most extensive assessment, said he was only sticking the label on me because I needed services.

Anyway, I totally relate to feeling upset for days whenever I'm invalidated like this by a professional. I mean, it's really invalidaitng your experience to blame your mood disorder on alcoholism, anorexia or whatever other than bipolar.

[Icare dixit]

I had a therapist question my diagnosis. Not the BP part, but the schizo part. I showed her the conclusions of a thorough psychological assessment where schizophrenia was considered more likely than BP. But I clearly have mania and depression (and non-affective psychosis). She didn't doubt that but thought it should've been diagnosed as BP with psychotic features. I was very expressive during the meeting, but that's why there is such a thing as borderline schizophrenic (that's also why I don't believe in ASD and BPD; BPD is SZ-like in nature and BP-like in appearance and severity, underlyingly "psychoticistic"). I could be wrong of course, but doctors can be as well.

I actually was somewhat manic (in retrospect) when I visited her. But the influence of my mood on my perception is considerable (which of course makes someone more SZ-like) and it's therefore hard to recognise mania.

Anyway, that therapist had dyslexia so maybe there was at least psychoticism and (probably) no BP or SZ, so possibly some (only some, mild) borderline personality. All probably not worth diagnosing, but she was maybe too much like me to be a good therapist. We clashed.

It's I think a good thing that people question diagnoses but only if they could know. I mean, that takes years (even when manic: maybe you are just very fidgety).

[MusicLover82]

I had this psychiatrist who was a quack and a b**** from h***, and I saw her for several months. I wish I had stopped seeing her sooner. She refused to recognize that I had OCD (my symptoms were crystal clear myself AND to my current pdoc), and instead insisted that I had BPD, when my personality is FAR from BPD. She was AWFUL and abusive. I wish I had saved our interactions so I could have taken her to court. A friend of mine committed suicide after seeing her for a prolonged period of time.

[Blaire]

Originally Posted by MusicLover82

I had this psychiatrist who was a quack and a b**** from h***, and I saw her for several months. I wish I had stopped seeing her sooner. She refused to recognize that I had OCD (my symptoms were crystal clear myself AND to my current pdoc), and instead insisted that I had BPD, when my personality is FAR from BPD. She was AWFUL and abusive. I wish I had saved our interactions so I could have taken her to court. A friend of mine committed suicide after seeing her for a prolonged period of time.

Omg! How awful! When I was in college, a nurse practitioner convinced my friend that she didn't have bipolar 1 and should go off her meds. She ended up dropping out of college, losing her job, and moving back in with her parents. It took her months to restabilize. By then she had to start all over. That was like 15 years ago, and she's still angry about it. I don't think some of these professionals realize how much power they have over vulnerable people. The very nature of our illnesses make us need to trust in the judgment of others.

[Victoria'smom]

My anorexia symptoms went away when I was put on the proper AP. Each therapist I've seen has "seen" me manic. I write a lot when I'm manic but outward signs are minimal. I hand over my writing to my therapists so they understand what I went through while not in session. They've all seen me depressed. I've always had the end up with the dx Mood disorder NOS by the time I leave the clinic. I tend to go off on people when the question my Dx. It's hard to get a proper dx. If you see a new mental health worker be upfront about your bipolar dx. My ED nos is always in question. The alcoholism and eating disorder are symptoms of BP not the cause of it.

[Spaceyspace]

Yeah, the way it worked for me is that I went to one clinic that had a revolving door of therapists I literally had 7 in 4 years they all rediagnosed me, usually with what they specialized in. I was even diagnosed with dissociative disorder nos bc one of them was a did specialist convinced I had multiple personalities lol. I was manic. What also sucked about this time period was that I had a quack for a prescriber who over medicated me, an underlying seizure disorder which by the time that got diagnosed and I began treatment I was so angry I went of psych meds and maintained that was my problem the whole time, the only problem and everyone who missed this seizure disorder was a fraud. It was exhausting. I got manic, got depressed, realized yes I can have both problems.

[franz kafka]

On the flip side, I went to see a psychiatrist once while I was in complete denial of my diagnosis, and she believed me. No evaluation. This led to me being prescribed an anti-depressant, which caused a manic episode and set off a year of rapid cycling. I wish now that she had been more rigorous in her attempt to diagnose me and not just take my word for it that I didn't have bipolar. A thorough interview would have easily revealed that I do.