Does a Diagnosis expire?

Vickie: Using the term "nappy." My mother was from N.Z. Are you British, Aussie or Kiwi (using that "foreign" word!).

Not to change the subject or anything but we use the word nappy down here too!

Not sure where "down here" is! I know my friends from N.Z. cringed if I said "napkins" for the table rather than "serviettes."

But I do think that even w/brain chemical disorders (bipolar 1 in my case) that w/learning new ways of thinking it DOES change the biochemical activity of the brain. Like w/my 2 kids w/depression, the doc said to be on meds at least one yr. then sometimes that can "retrain" the brain to kick in the right chemicals & it seems to have worked w/my kids, esp. my son.

I've been able to retrain my brain w/DBT & contradicting my thoughts & conclusions. I now evaluate my thoughts more closely. What evidence do I have for my reaching such a conclusion (as I am a major jumping to conclusion person--usually negative ones)?

It is biological, but you CAN change the pathways in your brain (ways you think & respond) w/training. I'm doing it--slow going--but it is my only hope as meds did not keep me stable continuously. I have been without suicidal thoughts for at least 9 mos. & I lived w/them every day since I can remember. When I was a kid I wrote a book title "Youths are Contemplating Suicide" & in my creative writing class in the 8th grade wrote about finding my mother after she asphyxiated herself in the car w/a vacuum cleaner hose (which didn't happen), but my teacher thought it was real & talked to me after class to console me. She didn't actually kill herself until about 4 yrs. later due to another gruesome method.

Yet I title the story "Exhausted while Driving!"--like it was a light-hearted joke to have your mother kill herself. At this time she was only overdosing on her meds & alcohol.

Ugh--sorry to get off to such a sad bit, but I have been able to reduce dosages & eliminate meds even though I have a "biological" disorder of bipolar 1.

The mind is amazingly "plastic" & w/work successfuls can be fulfilled. Will I ever be "cured"? No--but I can do my best to decrease the meds I have to take & learn skills to enable me to improve my life & skills.

I find it insanely depressing to think that my diagnosis I received four years ago, though it fits me even still, will never go away. I have tried to say so many times, that it's not a part of me and I can leave it behind. I guess, I just never really tried to face it. I only tried to run away.

Hi Sabrina

Could it be with your illnesses that you learned coping techniques so that the symptoms don't interfere with your quality of life?

Sorry--forgot to put the trigger in a couple posts that I should have...

A lot of times people compare a mental illness to diabetes as it is a biological disorder that needs medication & lifestyle management. I was dxed w/diabetes when I was in my 20's (both my parents were diabetic) & I was put on medication. After a couple yrs. my blood sugar started going too low--because I had changed my diet & exercise program to such an extent that I was no longer testing as "diabetic." Many people think you are forever a diabetic after a dx, but not so. I think the same thing w/mental illnesses. Sometimes w/medication & lifestyle changes, there CAN be chemical changes in the brain & it can repair itself to some extent--but you will always be vulmerable as I am always vulnerable to diabetes & blood sugar problems.

When my children were put on anti-depressants the doc said OFTEN after 1 yr. of medication treatment (& I firmly believe therapy is important, too) that the brain learns to provide the chemical that was not being produced before due to the effects of the medication on the brain. And that is true w/my son. Depression has never returned. Daughter struggles at times, but so far it has not impacted her life to such a negative extent that my bipolar did my mother or even me, though I am doing much better & getting off some meds.

I just don't think there is one answer for everyone. We are all individuals & if we are fully participating in our treatment, we can improve to the point where we will have remission.

Of course, people who have no "insight" into their illness will not be the same. They often don't think they should be on meds; that everything that is wrong is due to other people & often have delusional thinking, as my mother did (of the religious variety).

I think most people I have "met" here are working very hard in conjuction w/their providers to get the best quality of life w/the least amount of medication required & I am pleased to learn from you all.

There is some amazing new research that refutes traditional understanding of the disorder formerly known as Manic-Depression. There *is* hope afterall. It doesn't automatically mean a lifetime sentence if one is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Some people may outgrow the condition. Read further about the research and findings from the University of Missouri.

Quote:
Bipolar Disorder May Be Outgrown
By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 30, 2009

A new research effort has come to the conclusion that bipolar disorder, traditionally thought of as a chronic disorder, may dissipate as young adults mature.

Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, typically display severe and unusual shifts in mood and energy, which affect a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks.

Symptoms often start in early adulthood with University of Missouri researchers now suggesting that nearly half of those diagnosed between the ages of 18 and 25 may outgrow the disorder by the time they reach 30.

The finding is a stark contrast to traditional beliefs that view bipolar disorder as a lifelong condition.

“Using two large nationally representative studies, we found that there was a strikingly high peak prevalence of bipolar disorders in emerging adulthood,” said David Cicero, doctoral student in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science.

“During the third decade of life, the prevalence of the disorder appears to resolve substantially, suggesting patients become less symptomatic and may have a greater chance of recovery.”

By examining the results of two large national surveys, MU researchers found an “age gradient” in the prevalence of bipolar disorder, with part of the population appearing to outgrow the disorder. In the survey results, 5.5 to 6.2 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 suffer from bipolar disorder, but only about 3 percent of people older than 29 suffer from bipolar disorder.

“Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are going through significant life changes and social strain, which could influence both the onset and course of the disorder,” said Kenneth J. Sher, Curators’ Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences and co-author of the study.

“During this period of life, young adults are exploring new roles and relationships and begin to leave their parents’ homes for school or work. By the mid-20s, adults have begun to adjust to these changes and begin to settle down and form committed relationships.”

Researchers predict the prevalence of the disorder also could be affected by brain development, particularly the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex, the very front part of the brain, is thought to control perception, senses, personality and intelligence. In particular, it controls reactions to social situations, which can be a challenge for people with bipolar disorder.

“The maturing of the prefrontal cortex of the brain around 25 years of age could biologically explain the developmentally limited aspect of bipolar disorder,” Cicero said. “Other researchers have found a similar pattern in young adults with alcohol or substance abuse disorders.”

While some scholars suggest that the difference could be due to discounting factors such as early mortality, the sheer number of those who are recovering rules out this possibility, Sher said.

The study, “Are There Developmentally Limited Forms of Bipolar Disorder?” was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. It was co-authored by Cicero, Sher and Amee Epler, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychological Sciences.

Source: University of Missouri
Inspiring and hopeful, is how I read this article!
And since this is new research, we are only at the tip of the iceburg, so to speak.

We know very little about the brain; research is at its infancy. Dr. John Grohol, here, himself, refutes the idea that mental illness is a medical condition, (http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...ntal-illness/)
, dispite the pharmicutical companies multi-million dollar advertisement blitz that attempt to convince us of this dubious "factoid."

As the saying goes, "more will be revealed."
So, don't give up before the miracle happens!
And, as a good friend of mine says,
Try to make meaning out of your experience. It will always help you cope until the miracle does happen!

Starlite expressed best what my understanding about our mental illnesses & recovery.

First off, my understanding is that there are 2 different types of causes for mental illness.....situational & chemical imbalance.

There are simple situations & complex situations.....simple like the loss of a job (wasn't so simple for me as it was my whole life), the death of a loved one......they may be simple, but our reactions to them can actually cause a chemical reaction to occur. When I lost my career in 1994, I felt like I lost myself as my career was my identity. They were trying to find meds that would help.....but nothing worked or they had horrible side effects that were worse then the suicidal depression I was experiencing.....& only added to the problem. I asked them how a med was going to change the situation & that without the situation changing, I wasn't going to get better unless I was able to do something about the way I thought about where my life was going at that point......I actually started out with horrible anxiety attacks before the depression set in....years & years of feeling that way......it wasn't until 2003 that I even started to feel better....even though the suicidal attempts went away by 1999.....I still had horrible feelings of depression & there was no med that could even touch what I was feeling. Some people are lucky enough to find a med that helps them get through the rough time in their life & when they get through it....life goes back to the thinking & way it was before the situation. However, from personal experience, once we have experienced a reaction & a way of thinking or feeling, it is much easier for a trigger to bring us back to feeling that way than before we ever experienced feeling like that (not exactly sure why.....but that's what I have noticed).

Where the chemical imbalance is something that is part of your self, whether inherited, existing from birth, or comes along at a point after that....usually meds exist to help these conditions....& can be controlled. These usually require meds continually throughout life...problm is that people tend to feel better with the meds & trick themselves into thinking they don't need the meds anymore & they can feel that way without them. That thinking causes roller coaster feelings throughout life.

I was never told that I had recovered from my original DX....I just felt so much better that I decided to try going back to college & looking into another career...who ever said that 50 wasn't a good age to start life over again......but the anxiety level that had become part of my life was harder to control than ever in the past....I could, but it was a constant battle.

Don't know if it was from the depression period, but right after that, a trauma hit my life, with my Mother dying of cancer & the home care abuse that happened, but my reaction to the trauma was so extreme that it caused me to deal with other PTSD symptoms that I had never experienced before....from the fear that hit me.....whether I was overly sensitive to everything from my previous depression or what.....but now, even the change in weather to the time of year when I went through everything is a trigger.....stress triggers the sense of depersonalization...something I had never experienced like that before.

Seems that even though one thing finally started to pass....other things have hit me one right after another.....keeping mental illness issues constantly going in my life.

Strange thing is that at the beginning of my depression, my pdoc helped me apply for disability....no denials.....turned into permanent disability....no problem. Really had never been to the point where I can really focus well enough to hold down a job....after being an aerospace firmware engineer, it hard to imagine that I can't focus well enough to do anything where I could hold down employment that would allow me to get off of disability......there are lingering issues that seem to stick around even though we have passed through the situation & aren't really at the point where we were.

Some people may be able to come through situations better than this...think it depends on the situation & the person as to what the lingering effects end up being.

Debbie