[Lifehurdles]

Hi there
i wanted to start a thread about paranoia and bipolar, cause i thought that what i've been suffering from was paranoid personality disorder, however anti depressants and anti psychotics didn't seem to relieve my paranoia. So i started reading about why wouldn't anti depressants work and there it was, an undiagnosed bipolar is the reason, so i wanted to ask if bipolar disorder (specifically bipolar 2 ) causes such paranoia and if so, do bipolar disorder meds help ?

Thanks in advance

[dshantel]

I'm bp2 and for me being paroniod means reading into things that aren't nessasarily true or having screwed views about things.

They can help somewhat, yes. Ativan can calm the physical symptoms such as racing heart, flushing and sweating. It's possible to have PPD and bipolar too. Antidepressants helped my paranoia in the beginning and made is TOO easy for me to interact with people which led to increased paranoia as the mania built from the AD's. how did you react to AD's?

When did your paranoia start and what kind do you have? I have paranoia from people and interactions. I have social anxiety disorder. It was assumed for years it had to do with being attacked several times from about ages 14-18 but my mother and I clearly remember me being paranoid about people even as early as age 3. They made me very uncomfortable. My mom thinks it's because my brother (who is 6 years older) was physically and mentally abusive but I feel it was just part of who I am. I don't trust people because many are not trustworthy. I have a radar that goes off and tells me certain people are not safe (based on body language and facial expressions). While my radar goes overboard and haywire, there is usually truth to what it tells me. It's possible to be paranoid, even if people truly are out to get me though as my mind manifests it's own sinister narrative about people's intentions.

Meds can help a little or a lot, depending on the underlying cause. I have been diagnosed with BP1 and schizoeffective bipolar type with PTSD as a reason for my symptoms but it's more complicated than that. Regardless of the cause, it sucks very badly and I'm deeply sorry you suffer with it.

double post, sorry

[Lifehurdles]

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

They can help somewhat, yes. Ativan can calm the physical symptoms such as racing heart, flushing and sweating. It's possible to have PPD and bipolar too. Antidepressants helped my paranoia in the beginning and made is TOO easy for me to interact with people which led to increased paranoia as the mania built from the AD's. how did you react to AD's?

When did your paranoia start and what kind do you have? I have paranoia from people and interactions. I have social anxiety disorder. It was assumed for years it had to do with being attacked several times from about ages 14-18 but my mother and I clearly remember me being paranoid about people even as early as age 3. They made me very uncomfortable. My mom thinks it's because my brother (who is 6 years older) was physically and mentally abusive but I feel it was just part of who I am. I don't trust people because many are not trustworthy. I have a radar that goes off and tells me certain people are not safe (based on body language and facial expressions). While my radar goes overboard and haywire, there is usually truth to what it tells me. It's possible to be paranoid, even if people truly are out to get me though as my mind manifests it's own sinister narrative about people's intentions.

Meds can help a little or a lot, depending on the underlying cause. I have been diagnosed with BP1 and schizoeffective bipolar type with PTSD as a reason for my symptoms but it's more complicated than that. Regardless of the cause, it sucks very badly and I'm deeply sorry you suffer with it.

im sorry for your suffering
i can't recall how all of this started but i've been paranoid of trusting people for like 4 years. Im afraid of new places, they simply make me anxious ....
i've tried effexor which worked well for treating depression however, i came to realize that it got me overwhelmed with energy and joy so i suspected some sort of mania and told my doc however, she told me that it is the med itself and that it started working. I've taken olanzapine, but it did nothing . i've also tried zoloft but that didn't work either

[Lifehurdles]

Also have you tried psychotherpay and what meds worked best for you ?

I *think* AP's work best and a well placed Benzo here and there. I don't know for sure the AP's work as just me being able to take the AP shows a readiness to get better which might be the most helpful....but once I start an AP the symptoms seem to calm rather quickly so it's likely they work for me. I'm currently taking Saphris and it's had the least side effects for me of any AP I've tried thus far.

I've had lots of therapy over the years. It's effectiveness is complicated.....most of my therapy has been group therapy as many people and doctors assume exposure therapy is most helpful but with me and my paranoia I'd say group therapy makes me worse, plus advise from well meaning but highly dysfunctional people can be questionable depending on whose in the group and their unique issues along with their personal brand of insanity. Group therapy has caused me more harm than good. I think it will be helpful once I have more intensive individual therapy from someone who is skilled and above average intelligent. My current therapist is very smart and reasonably helpful but I see her 6 times a year at best which doesn't get the process moving like it should. That's my insurance though. I might soon have double insurance and be able to get more individual therapy so that will likely speed the process along. I still struggle after lots of therapy but some of it has helped. What's been most helpful oddly enough is self help and educating myself. It's said that self help books are not very effective but I've found that not to be true in my case. Educating myself has been imperative in my journey towards wellness.

[Lifehurdles]

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

I *think* AP's work best and a well placed Benzo here and there. I don't know for sure the AP's work as just me being able to take the AP shows a readiness to get better which might be the most helpful....but once I start an AP the symptoms seem to calm rather quickly so it's likely they work for me. I'm currently taking Saphris and it's had the least side effects for me of any AP I've tried thus far.

I've had lots of therapy over the years. It's effectiveness is complicated.....most of my therapy has been group therapy as many people and doctors assume exposure therapy is most helpful but with me and my paranoia I'd say group therapy makes me worse, plus advise from well meaning but highly dysfunctional people can be questionable depending on whose in the group and their unique issues along with their personal brand of insanity. Group therapy has caused me more harm than good. I think it will be helpful once I have more intensive individual therapy from someone who is skilled and above average intelligent. My current therapist is very smart and reasonably helpful but I see her 6 times a year at best which doesn't get the process moving like it should. That's my insurance though. I might soon have double insurance and be able to get more individual therapy so that will likely speed the process along. I still struggle after lots of therapy but some of it has helped. What's been most helpful oddly enough is self help and educating myself. It's said that self help books are not very effective but I've found that not to be true in my case. Educating myself has been imperative in my journey towards wellness.

i totally agree about the self improvement aspect, however you rarely fined anything helpful about paranoia online. Its like no one seems to be doing research about such a problem and if you find anything anything good about it online, it wont be detailed.
Its just frustrating and the fact that i have no friends just makes worse. And even if i do have friends, i find it weird to talk to them about such troubling problems.

Even my therapist and doctors have explained there is very little out there to truly help with paranoia and delusions. A few decades back (when I was about 20, give or take a few years in either direction) I was given a book/workbook for my social anxiety. It was VERY helpful. It taught me to examine my internal dialogue, to reframe my thoughts and examine them from different angles. It taught me how to somewhat control my external symptoms by controlling my body language to be less closed off and more open. It was the most helpful book I've read to date and while it didn't cure the problem it helped me function past it and feel slightly more confident which is never a bad thing with these type of issues. My doctors say I get delusions which are like paranoia on steroids. With Paranoia you know it's not real and delusion you don't really. But that confuses me because if you didn't feel it was real on SOME level, you wouldn't be paranoid, it would just be weird thoughts. If it's strong enough to be considered paranoia, there is a part of the mind which perceives it as real enough to be worried. Confusing! They need some good workbooks for paranoia and delusions! When I'm delusional, nothing truly helps to stop it but when paranoid I can use some coping such as reframing to keep me functioning in a somewhat normal way. (((Hugs)))

[Lifehurdles]

i'd say that delusions are somewhat distinct in defintion from paranoia since like you've said, when you're paranoid, you know that these thoughts aren't far from the usual, however, delusions accompanied with paranoia are completely different in my opinion. such delusional thoughts that could be far from the realm of reality are usually observed in individuals with schizotypal disorder. I for instance have also rational and irrational paranoid thoughts (magical thinking and such). I dont know if you also suffer from irrational paranoid thoughts.