diagnoses acceptance

where are you in relation to diagnoses acceptance.

I have been bipolar now long enough to accept it (in fact I didn't find it that hard to accept it in the first week, I found it quite a relief) that a name had been put to my illness, and that I wasn't the "crazy/awkward one"

There's just no question. The only thing I have wondered is why they didn't use the schizoaffective label for me, as I have had a huge amount of psychosis. Doesn't really matter to me. It's just a name.

I definitely was not quick to accept it. Nor was I relieved. But I have fully accepted it for at least 12 years now. I mean, I truly fit the bill, and looking back as far as age 14, I really fit the bill. If that didn't convince me, then my multiple hospitalizations and IOPs, and more, convinced me. I have trouble even counting how many mental health professionals have firmly labeled my illness as bipolar disorder. My long-time psychiatrist twice said, even laughing, that I am about as bipolar as they get. Even a cop guessed it right once.

I have never been given any other firm psychiatric diagnosis other than bipolar disorder (other than alcohol abuse). Pre diagnosis, I had received treatment for depression and anxiety. Those times didn't include extensive psychiatric evaluations, etc., plus they were more basically one-time GP or psychiatrist visits. When my last GP saw me a few times (single visits spread out over time) he referred me to a psychiatrist. I saw that psychiatrist a number of times and he diagnosed me correctly with bipolar disorder. He observed a mood switch. I still go to the last mentioned GP (for general medical stuff). He's a good guy. His father is, coincidentally, a psychiatrist. Having a psychiatrist parent doesn't always yield a suspected diagnosis, though. My father-in-law was a psychiatrist and neurologist. I never met my father-in-law. He died before I met my husband. Early on, my husband knew something was wrong with me, but didn't push me to get help right away. He recalls calling my mother about me. Well, my mom basically just laughed it off and told him "it will pass". I don't blame her for that. Such extreme behavior was normalized in my family.

Yeah, another long response from me, but I thought the background story a bit relevant.

I said partially. I accept the BP dx. not sure about the SzA dx. I also have a hard time knowing I'll be on meds forever.

I am diagnosed 9 years this month and I still haven't accepted it. I know and understand I need meds daily but I detest taking the 2 I'm on. I hate the fact that I'm no further forwarded than I was 9 years ago. I'm trying to stay on my meds as I'm an non-complier but it's so hard when I don't want them and detest them that much. I hate the fact that even on meds I'm still ill I mean how can I have mania or depression if I'm medicated. I hate people knowing a lot about my mental health..... people have access to medical records. The list goes on

I mentioned that I fully accept my diagnosis and I do. What I don't accept is being judged by the rest of society. I hate that.

I was diagnosed with bipolar about twelve years ago and it wasn’t so bad. I don’t like the bpd dx because of the immense stigma attached. Now my dx has been changed to sza by my psyd. It fits so I don’t care

My dx is Schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, I've come to fully accept it after 8 years but it took some time

If a manic episode in retrospect does not convince me, what will it take? Ive been locked in a small padded room before. They barely checked on me and they didnt let me out to pee. This was at the psych emergency services. Ive been hospitalized lots of times and they always say bipolar. Except once they said I had bpd and I disagreed and so did my regular pdoc so that was dropped. Ive been to the PES more times than Ive been hospitalized and all but once they say im bipolar. That once they said I had delerium and sent me to the regular ER across the hall.

If I had a diagnosis, I'd try my best to accept it. I did ok accepting a bipolar diagnosis when I was assessed and that was the best theory at the time. I was more focused on what I could do to treat it.

I don't know. Sometimes I accept it, but other times I don't really know. My memory is very bad in general (mostly because of meds and adhd), so I can't remember much of my psych history. I have to go by what I post on this forum and what my therapist says I've told her.

I'd venture to say that 99% of my doubts stem from the fact that I can't remember anything. For example, I might say to myself, "how do I KNOW I have bipolar if I can't even look back at my history and remember things? I am taking wild guesses. It's no different than trying to remember the names of all the kids in my preschool class."

I don't know if I have blackouts or what, but I genuinely don't remember sometimes.

T: you have BP 1 ..*** life flashed before my eyes ****

Oh damn well that explains everything.

27 seconds and I accepted it.