[pirilin]

My dear fellow participants in the bipolar disorder forum:

In your estimation, your diagnostics were of help?. Or hurt.

I will offer my input at the end. Thank you for participating.

[Coconutzo]

Both.
(-)Created an obsession with self monitoring and a fear of my personality. Also self doubt.

(+)Validation. An understanding of my feelings and moods. Also medication to make the rough less rocky.

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I feel like coconutzo.

Originally Posted by Coconutzo

Both.
(-)Created an obsession with self monitoring and a fear of my personality. Also self doubt.

(+)Validation. An understanding of my feelings and moods. Also medication to make the rough less rocky.

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yeeeeep

Pretty much that in a nutshell

[Daonnachd]

Basically, it was a key to understanding what's going on in my head, not much of the obsession Coco mentions.

[hopeless2015]

I absolutely became obsessed after dx, now I'm trying to work my way through this, some days are good some are really bad

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[Amy Today]

It's like if you experienced the color blue but had no words to describe it. It was an "Oh yeah!" moment because everything made sense. I was bipolar for 20 years and didn't even know.

The downside- I can't help it. I feel like a "sick" person now. I used feel like I was just failing at life before my diagnosis. Now I feel a little feeble at times.

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[JustJace2u]

Originally Posted by hopeless2015

I absolutely became obsessed after dx, now I'm trying to work my way through this, some days are good some are really bad

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I was only recently diagnosed, but I can say that it has become some sort of obsession to try and understand everything there is to know about this illness.

[Jensitive22]

Initially it was a help. I was relieved there was a reason, a name for my symptoms. But, the more I have learned about it and the more I have read about the experiences of others, I struggle with doubts. I WISH there was a more objective way of diagnosing it

Originally Posted by Jensitive22

Initially it was a help. I was relieved there was a reason, a name for my symptoms. But, the more I have learned about it and the more I have read about the experiences of others, I struggle with doubts. I WISH there was a more objective way of diagnosing it

Well, there are *somewhat* objective ways of diagnosing BP, but I don't think they're too ethical.

Some pdocs (like mine) intentionally prescribe antidepressants without a mood stabilizer as a means for testing BP. "Hypo/mania? Definitely BP. No hypo/mania? Major Depressive Disorder."

Some pdocs may also prescribe a stimulant without a mood stabilizer to distinguish between ADHD and BP.

Those are quick and dirty ways to test for BP. They're not 100% foolproof, though. Some BP people may slide through the cracks, while some non BP people may accidentally be Dx'ed as BP. But, it works quite well for the most part, which is why some pdocs do it. Also, there are diligent ways to distinguish BP from MDD when a patient has antidepressant-induced mania. You typically monitor the patient's "comedown" to determine if the person is MDD or BP. (The DSM-V goes into detail about how to do this.)

Personally, I was sort of glad my pdoc did this to me. Maybe it wasn't the most ethical thing, but it made me satisfied with my Dx. I also tried Adderall WHILE on a mood stabilizer, and that just made me go bonkers. I got 3.5 hours of sleep in 72 hours and I was totally hallucinating the entire time. That settled it for me.

Well I kinda knew I was bp on and off through the years. But I had to push it and go through that hypomania and then mania and then psychosis. That's when I got diagnosed. I didn't believe I had it 2 yrs after being diagnosed. Then I had a lot of mixed episode s and now I do. I did get obsessed at first. Not now tho. I'm happy I know now other than the weight gain from the APs...But I'm losing now. Yay!!!

[MusicLover82]

When I was first diagnosed with Bipolar 2, my psychiatrist at the time diagnosed me also with OCD and GAD. I was FLOORED. There are THREE things wrong with me????? It took me a little while to get over the initial shock.

[OctobersBlackRose]

Both, it helped.by giving me a.reason I.was having these episodes, and it has gotten me.into the right therapies. But it has hurt by making me feel like I'm broken and I'll never get to live a "normal" life.

[OctobersBlackRose]

Originally Posted by Jensitive22

Initially it was a help. I was relieved there was a reason, a name for my symptoms. But, the more I have learned about it and the more I have read about the experiences of others, I struggle with doubts. I WISH there was a more objective way of diagnosing it

I feel the same way about the doubts, my issues is I can't remember all my episodes and what J was like so I.dont know how bad they really were other than the ones that ended in a suicide attempts...

Once I was properly diagnosed, it was helpful. I wasn't thrilled but I wasn't surprised. I have a psychology degree and have kept up on it via self-study over the years. Never realized how "applicable" it would be lol

My family was pretty crazy. Almost everyone died but everyone had insomnia, addiction, bipolar, depression, suicide and a narcissist for a mother. And that's only the patently obvious stuff. My family liked to present well but went apeshit when no one was looking. Well, at least I'm nice. It could be worse. I would NOT have borrowed 100k to become a friggin lawyer if I knew it was practice law only ten years. I basically went through hellish law school, passed the Bar exam, practiced law for ten years, went bipolar psychotic bezerk, hospitals and crap and disabled. Basically I made enough money to pay off my student loans and my brain clocked out. What a fail, ugh.

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PS: I pretty much ignore the other mental illness stuff in my signature. I'm properly diagnosed but bipolar is the whopper. I suspect PTSD too but I don't even know how to think about that so I don't.

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