[Witchy Woman]

I feel I might have been misdiagnosed. I do not remember very large chunks of my past but apparently I was functioning on some sort of productive level because nobody seems to have noticed. I have run into people who seem to know me intimately, yet I have absolutely no clue who they might be (and I tend to be afraid to ask who they are or admit I don't know them). I have seen where those people who are dissociative may be depressed because of this lack of memory and lack of knowing who they are but they should not be treated with meds. Rather just therapy. By the way, I also have tinnitis, asthma and fibromyalgia. All reasons to be frustrated and depressed. I am taking 900 mg neurontin and 240 mg cymbalta daily. Should I question my diagnosis? Does this all make sense? If I just suffer from depression why the vacant gaps in my memory? I had this discussion with a therapist and was told multiple personalities did not exist, they were inadvertaently created by therapists. Now I find this group.. So what gives? I am very concerned and confused. Help?

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Witchy Woman

I feel I might have been misdiagnosed. I do not remember very large chunks of my past but apparently I was functioning on some sort of productive level because nobody seems to have noticed. I have run into people who seem to know me intimately, yet I have absolutely no clue who they might be (and I tend to be afraid to ask who they are or admit I don't know them). I have seen where those people who are dissociative may be depressed because of this lack of memory and lack of knowing who they are but they should not be treated with meds. Rather just therapy. By the way, I also have tinnitis, asthma and fibromyalgia. All reasons to be frustrated and depressed. I am taking 900 mg neurontin and 240 mg cymbalta daily. Should I question my diagnosis? Does this all make sense? If I just suffer from depression why the vacant gaps in my memory? I had this discussion with a therapist and was told multiple personalities did not exist, they were inadvertaently created by therapists. Now I find this group.. So what gives? I am very concerned and confused. Help?

Originally Posted by Witchy Woman

Should I question my diagnosis?

only you know whether you should be questioning your diagnosis or not.. questioning whether a person has a physical or mental health issue that their treatment providers tell them they have is an individualized thing.....me I do not because I have full trust in my treatment providers. they have never steered me wrong and have never made any mistakes in treating my mental or physical health issues.

Originally Posted by Witchy Woman

Does this all make sense?

for some people what you posted/ think/do/what your symptoms are, is going to make sense and for others what you posted/ think/do/what your symptoms are isnt going to make sense. Again whether something makes sense is an individualized thing based on each persons own understanding of things.

Originally Posted by Witchy Woman

If I just suffer from depression why the vacant gaps in my memory?

because that may just be the way your depression is affecting you, or it could be normal for you or it could be any number of physical or mental health issues..the human brain is an amazing thing where no two people remember the same things even when they are perfectly healthy the human brain does not retain everything it takes in, the human brain only uses a percentage of its functions for storage of memories. it has other functions too that it must attend to like breathing and keeping your organs, nerves and muscles working...what dictates how much a person remembers isnt solely based on whether they have dissociation or depression or bipolar disorder or any other mental disorder, its also about their heredity/genes/ stress/ whether they are getting enough sleep/fluids/ nutrients/ their cultural background/whats important for their body senses to take in and retain.... so much goes into how and why a person remembers the way they do.

with me my memory gaps are because I have Multiple Sclerosis, bouts of mania, hypomania, depression, I dont always get enough sleep, I'm in a high stress type job, I just not too long ago gave birth so my body's chemicals were more used for growing and protecting babies not on remembering every single moment of my day so a big portion of the time during my pregnancy is a blur unless it pertains to my being pregnant, some medications also affected how and what I remember....gosh there are just so many things that affect my having the memory gaps that I have, including genetics, my cultural background, my past, my present, whats normal for me whats important to me....

the line in the sand is that only your treatment providers can tell you how and why you remember some things and dont remember others. therefore my suggestion is that if this continues to bother you, contact your treatment providers.. they can do extensive physical and mental health testing that will tell you the answers you seek.

as for what gives well only that treatment provider who stated the disorder does not exist can tell you what gives...

what I can tell you is that every location, religion, political group, culture, mental health provider holds their own belief about what does and doesnt exist or get treated for mental health and physical health issues, so in order for you to find out "what gives" you need to talk with those treatment providers that told you what ever they did about your mental and physical health issues and what mental disorders are where you are.

"help?"...

well that depends upon what kind of help you want and need. here we post about things we go through and then if someone else has gone through what we have they post back to let us know what they went through. we dont tell each other what to do, and we dont diagnose each others problems. we also share our knowledge of mental and physical health issues. some people here also thank each other and give each other virtual "hugs" other, thats all the help we can give.

[possum220]

Some professionals believe in DID and some do not. It wouldn't hurt to seek a second opinion from another Psychiatrist and see what they say. Maybe you can find P'doc in your area that deals with DID and all the other variations that are listed in the top of this forum. May google them? I dont know where you live but hope that is some kinda of start for you.

If you live in the USA P'docs are more likely to be aware of this mental illness. If you live in Australia your chances may go down. But never give up. It just helps to find some-one that you can be really comfortable talking to.

Take Care.

[volatile]

I've had people come up to me before speaking to me in ways similar to what you're saying but I actually ask them who they are and who they think I am and a lot of the time they realize I'm not who they thought I was. You can't just assume the reason they thought they knew you was because you are multiple. That's illogical.

If you have more legit reasons to be worried about dissociative disorders then go ahead and get a second opinion but memory issues is a symptom of hundreds of disorders including depression. Any dissociative disorder has more red flags and symptoms than just memory gaps so you should probably do your own research to learn more about it.