Reassessment ?

Hey,

So I had another psychiatrist appointment today. Previously I was diagnosed with BP2, but ended up needing a reassessment because of stuff that happened a little while ago.

The appointment went well, even though I was really nervous, and what they came up with was both interesting and expected... sorta. The plan is for them to talk to another Dr who specializes in BP, but the difficulty is that he might not agree with their diagnosis.

The list they gave me was bipolar (but in a weird way that makes BP the closest mood disorder), ADD, and a personality disorder.

ADD was expected as one of their theories because I have an unspecified Learning Disability too.

The BP I knew, and I knew it was abnormal because of excessive rapid cycling.

The Personality Disorder is what confused me a bit. The stuff that happened to me were more dissociations rather than any of the personality disorders I've read around.

Can I get some advice on this, or a bit of an explanation. I'm not sure if I misled them, or what. I always get really confused at stuff like this... :/

Diagnosing psychiatric illnesses is anything but an exact science. Unfortunately, there's no blood test or scan they can do that, if positive, they can definitively say you have bipolar, ADD, etc. Well, not yet anyway...scientists are working on that.

In the meantime, the doctors muddle through and we keep searching for answers as to why we don't feel well.

I think the best thing for you to do is ask your psychiatrists why they think you may have a personality disorder. They should be able to give you the specific symptoms and traits that they see that would lead them to that diagnosis. If there's something that you think you may have left out or not explained as well as you would have liked, let them know. It may take some time, but it sounds like you're on track to getting things sorted out.

I want to but I don't really know how to get ahold of them again. It was one of those one hour, here's our opinion, heres where your being sent, sort of meetings. I asked for a second one but they're sending me somewhere else instead.

Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the next appointment. Be sure to write down any questions you might have for the new doctor. I find that the time goes by so quickly sometimes that if I don't write things down, I forget something that I wanted to talk about.

Most importantly, don't stress about it too much. Just focus on trying to find some balance and keeping yourself as grounded as you can. Do you have a therapist or are you just seeing the psychiatrists for now? It may take some time, but things will be sorted out.

I think I'm going to start writing things down. My dad does the same thing. Only things I have to remember is if I've got everything, and did I bring the list, lol! And yeah, I have a T. I havent gotten a chance to talk to him about this though because I've been sick the last 2 sessions and couldn't make it.