Do they just give you a prescrition and make notes?

You might also check on the work and services offered by Dr. Daniel Amen, M.D. at:

www.danielamenmd.com
and
www.amenclinics.com

There has been a lot of research in these areas. From my reading of journals, at best the work has been inconclusive. I like your emphasis on "effective."

Like I said in my initial response to this thread, if you can come up with better biological testing for BP, you'll become quite wealthy. It's not a matter of which patient has how much money, as the OP seems to think.

Also the genetic tests that are being done only point to how your body metabolizes certain medications, and there are disagreements regarding how effective these are as well.

Yes but the medical journals are for them (psychiatrists in this case). Patients can read journals and talk about them with their doctor but it doesn't mean the doctor is going to offer them the treatments they've been looking up in medical journals. Medical journals are a great way to stay current about trends in treatment and diagnosis in medicine. But, I can't talk to just anyone about things I read there because I might not fully understand. That doesn't mean that I'm not right but not understanding can leave you wondering if you are wrong. There is definitely a lot of rejection involved when one believes something they aren't ready to discuss with others. At some point soon I'm going to move along to a couple of the clinics I know about and try to be seen for consultation by a psychiatrist. I remember the list I saw for the Menninger Clinic in Texas, associated with Baylor Medical School. That list was a little stilted. If I gave the psychiatrist that list he would probably discount most of the items there as unneeded for my condition. And even if it were another condition most of those items wouldn't apply. But the list was extravagant to attract customers. That's a little scary. The other clinic is NC Neuropsychiatry and they didn't answer my email about medical imaging/eeg to by pass the old DSM and mood stabilizers. I am fearful of them because I read one doctor's background/CV and he only mentions children with Asperger's. That is very humbling to know one's mental disorder isn't deemed worth of funding. I believe it would be in the setting of war veterans, but not otherwise.

Update:

Hello all. I sent an email to NC Neuropsychiatry in the state of North Carolina. I thought I would share the email I sent to them with you all so that you may help me if I am not communicating effectively. Thank you so much for your time. By the way, I know it seems that any psychiatrist should treat bipolar disorder some of them may steer clear of it. Just my two cents.

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Subject: I don't know if your clinic treats bipolar disorder
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I am interested in your clinic because of the services of neuropsychiatry. However, I have bipolar disorder and I am concerned that my condition is not treated by any of the NC Neuropsychiatry in this state. If your facility does diagnose and treat bipolar disorder I would like to know how to arrange for a consultation with someone who can answer questions I have about neuropsychiatry. I am trying to determine if I need the services of neuropsychiatry in lieu of services of a non-research/family psychiatrist.

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Reply: NC Neuropsychiatry
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We do treat bipolar disorder. What type of insurance do you carry?

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Reply: theForce
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This is why I am contacting you. If your facility treats bipolar then I probably need to talk to someone in billing. I understand that I need insurance. However, I do not have insurance. I will obtain insurance soon. But I need to talk to someone in billing because they will know what insurance I need. Please refer me to someone at your facility who can best answer my question; such as someone in billing who regularly knows who is and is not eligible for services.

My psych NP spends 60 to 90 minutes with me on each visit. there are no thorough tests, just meaningful chit chat. A lot of it is about how I feel in general and using some specific parameters.

I also spoke with my psych NP today. He used to work in the private psych setting, but now he works at the non-profit I use. He answered many of the questions that I originally posted here in a few minutes and the answers were based on his experiences.

He knew that cutting edge advances and the methods used by a neuropsychiatrist are seldom used in what he termed "mainstream" psychiatry. Advances like genetic testing (the saliva swab) are still in the developmental stages. Medical imaging and electroencephalography are not really for treating bipolar but called for in cases where brain damage is suspected; in which case a patient is referred to a neurologist.

Our conversation did get around to neuropsychiatrist. These doctors are like a psychiatrist and neurologist in one. They might consider medical imaging. However in the end they may only be able to concern themselves with the bipolar patient's symptoms, feedback, and clinical observations. However, at this point in our talk he mentioned the TSM a new cranial implant but it is for depression -- a little talk about differences in unipolar and bipolar mood disorders followed.

I still need to see the neuropsychiatrist and ask about trends in diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. Even though it may seem to others in this thread that bipolar disorder does not yet have substantive diagnosis and treatment -- and if it did it would be big news and printed in medical journals -- they wouldn't know because they don't consult medical journals with questions about bipolar disorder and microbiology. They don't care about that. If they did *they* would have shared experiences not just common place conjecture.

I'm currently reading a book by a neuropsychiatrist, called "hippocrates Cried"
"The Decline of American Psychiatry" I find it to be impenetrable, though not because of any medical terms he uses. Maybe you would like it. The author is Michael Alan Taylor. His complaints seem to be all over the place, but he's definitally in favor of investigating the neuro part of neuropsychiatry. I don't think any of the research has come far enough to be actively useful, but the book does help me sleep. As I said, it might make more sense to you.

Ok. I'll read it. Thanks.

Already in the introduction I have ideas that will help me when I see a psychiatrist...In fact I might even be able to talk to a psychiatrist on some other forum and/or my psych NP (whose experience is enough to answer my questions).

Something in the introduction of the book you mentioned was psychopathology not in the diagnostics manual. I may ask about this because I think I may have been misdiagnosed. It is just a thought. I started this thread because of my concerns about diagnosis. I knew that their must be someone here who was aware of alternatives to psychiatric diagnosis. Well starting with the introduction of Hipacrates Cried I have ideas to sort out this potentially bad state of not getting care that I could get if I knew what to ask for. Not knowing what to ask leads to basic answers that every patient hears about at some point. Not a helpful time when one wants to try something different from what others try in their lifetimes.

I can't help but feel that you are in denial of your diagnosis?
Why did you seek help from your nurse practitioner in the first place?
bizi

You could've just spoke with your psych NP in the first place. No one here is knows everything; these forums are for mutual support-we're not here for homework help. There's nothing wrong with asking questions or trying to learn. But no one has all the answers, so there's no reason for you to be rude!

Thank you short cut.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi