Do you believe BP is a spectrum mental illness?

I'm starting to question my DX. I was diagnosed 1.5 years ago after giving into drinking again after being sober. It landed me in jail and the hospital overnight 6 months before due to possibility of overdosing on it. I'll go along just fine, and whammo I make a terrible decision that I can drink and I become obsessed that it will different this time. I make totally bad decisions during it all as well. Before becoming an alcoholic I made impulsive decisions and was going to leave my DH for a long distance relationship. Yeah...bad idea and did not happen. I love my husband dearly. Here is my question. Do you have to ever be admitted IP to consider yourself Bipolar. Are there people out there like me. Maybe the low end of it. Thoughts?

Yes, I believe bipolar is a spectrum mental illness in that there's a wide spectrum that people fall along yet are all bipolar.

I have bipolar 2, and my understanding and experience with it is that you have deep depressions and low highs known as hypomania. In all the years I've had bipolar [35+ now], I've never been mania, but have been hypomanic for days on end. I don't believe that mania is determined by length of time, but by severity of the high. In hypomania a person feels great, has the racing thoughts and pressured speech, but isn't so out of control that they're off mortgaging the house and booking passage on a cruise around the world for their entire family.

I also believe that bipolar can and is cyclical, and a person can be fine for a period of time, and the bumped up or down into mania/hypomania or depression. In my case, it always seems to be precipitated by something going on in my life that is stressful.

From my research on bipolar, most people who have drinking or drug problems have underlying mood disorders that they're trying to medicate.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!!!

Bipolar falls into the spectrum of "Mood Disorders"

I've never gone to IP and I've been Dx'ed with BP 1

I get psychosis, but rarely do I get delusional. Mostly, I just get auditory hallucinations with very few visual hallucinations mixed in. Even then, the hallucinations aren't that bad. For example, 2 weeks ago I was mixed and hallucinating that I kept hearing an iPhone ringing for 40 minutes straight. Then I was hearing random beep patterns. Pretty harmless.

Since I was getting hallucinations, it was technically psychosis (which is a BP 1 symptom), but since the psychosis was very mild, I didn't need to go to IP.

So, I think I'm on the "mild" end of BP 1. Symptom wise, I would argue I'm somewhere between BP 1 and BP 2.

I hope that helps

Yes. The symptoms will vary greatly and many, many have never been in hospital. But the casinos are full of them, trust me I know and meet them. I know some who never had anger issues. Alcohol is a big trigger, albeit I get up-mood without drinking a drop... And what happens when you are in deep depression but there is a reason like 3 years without work and a newborn daughter and no money? Even in my deepest depression I was never suicidal or despondent, I was just frustrated and hopeless until I found hope and miracle happens - I got a job. Still, I do think my diagnosis is true... I am 60 and introspection works especially when I am hypo-manic. The closest "mania" was before I was diagnosed and I thought I have found my past life person Before that I wanted to become a magician (and not the stage performing kind). (I happen to believe in those things/magical thinking/wicca) I got into a very strange euphoric insomniac state where I saw "signs" everywhere. I would say that is(was) mania.....(but lack of sleep would/could do that). P.S. I have completely given up Wicca (but kept my online handle, just for grins....)

I do think there's a spectrum of severity, but I don't think you need to have been hospitalized to have the diagnosis of BP1 or 2. There can be any number of reasons why someone isn't hospitalized and I don't even think severity of symptoms is always the reason.

There are people who are rarely, if not often, stable and I would say this would lie on the spectrum of severe and others whose BP is well controlled and go for long periods of time without having an episode (though, that said, if this person has a very severe episode even after not having had one in a long time, then isn't that severe? I'm getting confused myself here...).

I don't think BP1 is necessarily more severe than 2, since those with 2 spend much of their time depressed.

There's also a minority of pdocs who believe in a spectrum of I 2, and then III and IV as well.

I wasn't hospitalized when my pdoc started treating symptoms. She just didn't tell me. But I was in IP when another pdoc did tell me. Things made more sense.

I can believe bipolar as a spectrum disorder. Some people have it better, some have it worse.

Put it this way. I had anxiety and depression for 15 years. SSRIs helped on occasion. It never crossed my mind that I could be Bipolar. I thought Bipolar people were delusional, and out of touch with reality. Well guess what?

I was diagnosed with Bipolar this year, at 45 years old. My pdoc says a "very mild case". After starting BP meds, I realized I havent' felt this "normal" in my whole life.

There is a HUGE spectrum of Bipolars, like there is a big spectrum of Aspergers. My son is super high functioning Aspergers...some kids with it are way worse off than him

Wow! Love all y'all's responses. I guess I was just not wanting it be true. I had been DX'd BP2 8 years ago but as mentioned, the DX was changed to BP1 1.5 years ago. I know I can get super excitable and I'll start talking fast, over the top responses, and thinking I'm the smartest person alive! LOL Then I crash and burn and the depression hits along with the extreme OCD. Right now my mood is between the two simultaneously (I know that sounds weird). There is no cycle right now. Of course they added Cymbalta back in which scares the living shite out of me since it can trigger a manic episode in me but the depression was overwhelming me with not being on an AD. Thanks for your insight and own personal stories! :yourock

Have you ever thought of trying alternative treatments like the mineral supplement lithium orotate and amino acids? I ask this because you said Cymbalta can trigger a manic episode and scares you.

I was on meds for 13+ years, and can honestly say it saved my marriage by turning me into a zoned out zombie with a host of serious side-effects. When they got so bad I couldn't take it, I went off them 9+ years ago and then came across using amino acids to regulate my brain chemistry the way the meds supposedly do. I was amazed at how much more stable my mood was, and how much better I felt as the side-effects subsided. A little over 4 years ago my naturopath put me on lithium orotate to help control the hypomania, and it's done a fabulous job of keeping me stable.

I believe that mood disorders, anxiety disorders and things like OCD, ADD, ADHD, agoraphobia and the like have a genetic component where your brains aren't able to produce the neurotransmitters needed to keep us stable so we need to supplement them using amino acids. I compare this to juvenile diabetes where the pancreas doesn't function and the child has to be given insulin.

Here are some links on the subject:

This is an article about lithium orotate which is a mineral supplement, and why it's more effective than the drug lithium carbonate. I use this brand of lithium orotate, and have done great on it. The only side-effect I've ever noticed is that if I take an extra dose [I take 4 tablets normally], I get a bit constipated.

Natural Treatment for Bipolar Disorder and Alzheimer's Ignored! - Natural Health Blog | Holistic Health Blog

This is an article about treating depression using amino acids:

https://www.integrativepsychiatry.ne...epression.html

This is a brain function questionnaire that shows the emotions/feelings related to the different neurotransmitters, and which amino acids produce which neurotransmitters. I used this as a guide when I first start using amino acids.

http://drjolee.com/Brain-Function-Questionnaire.pdf

-----if you have what is called mixed states you change rapidly between states and can be both at the same time!!! We are not dull people! A routine helps me stay stable. I try to add positive activities and people and challenge myself just enough to avoid going off the rails.

I definitely believe bipolar is a spectrum disorder. At one end you have cyclothymia, then Bipolar Not Otherwise Specified, which is kind of a wastebasket diagnosis that means "you probably have BP, we just don't know which kind". Then you've got BP 2 and BP 1 on the other end. I like to think that my own case of BP 1 isn't as severe as a lot of people with the same diagnosis, but with my manic episodes plus occasional psychosis, it's too severe to be BP 2. And you don't have to be hospitalized to get the BP diagnosis, no matter which type you have.

Most bp meds are risky,IMHO, Lithium is the least dangerous (watch the drug interactions!) - when you take Lithium in any format you must monitor your blood level very carefully.

It is definitely a spectrum mental health condition, in my opinion. BP presents differently in each person. In fact, I find it very interesting how personality differences, upbringing, life experiences, and other factors can contribute to differences in its presentation.

Also, I wouldn't say that BP1 is more "severe" than BP2. Plus, severity is something that's really subjective. This is why it is so important for mental health professionals to provide individualized care, rather than just treating general symptoms.

Yes it can vary in severity. I have never been hospitalized. I have worked hard for stability. I have bipolar 1.

Wow! Very interesting! I'm going to read the articles! I was on Lithium Carbonate when first DX'd but it caused my Hashimoto's to go crazy! My mom (she's an herbalist), keeps telling me that I need to look into amino acids, but I've been fighting her because....well....she's my mom. LOL). Thanks!

Yeah, it wrecked my Hashimoto's.

I do believe it's a spectrum illness involving biochemical affective instability. The most extreme being the archetypical bipolar 1 with psychotic features that's hard to miss, all the way down to cyclothymia which is often just labelled a personality trait.

Yup. Diagnosed at 46 myself. Boy would life had been easier

Bipolar disorder is not just considered a spectrum disorder by patients, the idea of it being considered on a spectrum is commonly discussed in the professional psychiatric community. You can find information on the bipolar spectrum in books on bipolar disorder and scholarly journal articles.

In a couple articles written by MDs, I have read that at the lowest end of a bipolar spectrum a person may hardly even have had a hypomania. But what the doctor felt made the case qualify was the patient's tendency to have reoccurring depressions followed by more stable periods. The cyclical pattern was the key. Good response to moodstabilizers by such patients was also mentioned. But of course there are different views on what characteristics must be had to qualify for at least the lowest end.

I have BP1, and have not been hospitalized. Most of my episodes post treatment are so short nobody who would be in a position to hospitalize me actually gets to see the symptoms. I was worse off before treatment, mixed for months. I put in for disability insurance after being sent home sick, and because I'd never been hospitalized or put on a 72 hour hold I didn't get it. It's my understanding this would be the case for SSD as well. I'm "highly functional" but I get brief episodes so severe they disrupt my home life or could get me fired at work.

I can see your confusion, I share it. I don't doubts my diagnosis, but a lot of people don't see you as mentally ill unless you are living with your parents on SSD.

—-I have mixed states and rapid cycling sometimes. I’m bp2. Stress is not my friend. In today’s high pressure work world I find,it hard to avoid pushing myself too hard. So glad to have some retirement income, but staying home is too boring!!!! Hugs!

Very very much so... My Pdoc still to this day isn't 100% sold on the diagnosis of BP2 and thinks it may be comorbidity of anxiety, ADHD, and Cyclothimia.

I don't really get depressed but I have been IP'd for mania and my mood changes constantly (at least daily), energy levels vary wildly. So who knows.

I don't actually like the word "spectrum", or believe in "spectrums"

not sure why... just how I am