How accurate our your mental health symptoms?

Maybe it's just that I'm seemingly undiagnosed, but I was thinking about how perception (our own) can influence our symptoms- for instance when I take some of the mental health quizzes on PC, sometimes it says I'm bipolar, other times it doesnt- sometimes it says I'm autistic, other times it doesnt.
It's just frustrating. When I'm in a more negative mood/mindset my answers in the aspergers quiz are going to say I have aspergers because my preference of the time will be to be by myself more and my answers will reflect that-
I think if anything I'm a hyperactive semi recluse with mild bipolar symptoms-
my last psychiatrist I was seeing diagnosed me as having schizoaffective disorder,
I don't know how accurate that is though.
It's frustrating because there's so many symptoms from different disorders out there that overlap each other and that can be confused with each other I'm usually better off not thinking about it- my mom used to say I was a hypochondriac when I was a child- she still does- of course this is the same woman who's in denial of her anxiety disorder that myself and the rest of the family are aware of- I've gotten close to convincing her to seeing a therapist or at least getting medication but she always backs out.
I myself choose not to go to therapy because usually it does more harm than good- it just brings up all the past that rehashing doesn't help- it's like cutting open old wounds- somethings are better left unspoken- I'd rather just deal with the present.
I know where I've been and what's influenced me to be where I am not, emotionally and mentally- it's just a matter of coping and moving forward in a positive manner.
Sorry, I've realized some of my posts are as unorganized as my thought process- I've been distracted by my bf who just came home.

Quite inaccurate. I've never had a perfectly clear diagnosis from any of the many, many p-docs I've seen. But I don't think it's us, I think the issue is the lack of cohesiveness of psych diagnoses.

I have every single symptom of bipolar 1. And I have for a long time.

I was previously misdiagnosed as Depression, but that was because I never saw my old therapist when hypomanic.
Then I saw my new doctor when Manic and it was obvious.

The problem for me seems to be symptoms that fit a number of diagnoses...you're 'this'...no, your 'this'...and of course, for the past several decades the p-docs see me when I'm on meds. And they diagnose in such a short time - an office visit or two.

I saw my current psychiatrist for about a year before she officially diagnosed me with bipolar.

I fit BP2, the first time I read about bipolar (after being diagnosed) it clicked. It explained so much. I have asked my pdoc over the last decade since my diagnosis if she's sure, I always get "you are definitely bipolar" I've stopped questioning it. I've become aware of traits of avoidant personality also, had I known about it I would have read about it earlier. No one has told me that I have avpd, but my pdoc softly agreed that I share traits. i don't think she would have ever told me had I not found out myself.

yeah, I don't know if I have avpd traits because of anxiety or past issues I was still healing from- but I'm seemingly getting better- now that I've stopped using weed and taking anti depressants it's become more and more clear that I have bipolar 2 (I think)

I've been diagnosed as schizoaffective, and that seems to be a good diagnosis. The symptoms weave in and out, with old symptoms fading away and new ones appearing, but a few, like the *****y imaginary girlfriend and the paranoia and many delusions, have been strong and constant. One psychiatrist thought I was just schizophrenic, but that was because I was between manic storms when I first saw him, and didn't have the affective symptoms I usually do. I have been schizoaffective for almost 11 years now, and I have given up hope of a cure. Maybe I can hope for some slight reduction of symptoms, but that is all. Too many shrinks, too many different meds, too many manic storms, too many voices screaming in my head. Hope the rest of you are having better luck than this

My first diagnosis was OCD/Anxiety Disorder. But then I had some pretty serious manic episodes. I experienced pretty much every symptom of BP I at some point.

The real question, though, is how is this affecting you life? Are you disabled by your symptoms? Are they just a nuisance? Are you losing jobs and relationships? Are you suicidal? Miserable?

If it's a real problem and not just a worry, then you're probably right in thinking it's really important to have a clear diagnosis so that you can be treated properly. This may take a bit of time. Seeing a psychologist. Seeing a p-doc. Being fully evaluated. All of this is expensive, I know, but it will be worth it if it improves your life.

That's how I thought and felt too,for many years.Every time I started therapy and the past was brought up,I left.I just wanted to work on the here and now.What I didn't realize though,was the past was still in the present,whether I acknowledged or believed it or not.It wasn't until I did actually 'rehash' the past that I became more stable and things started changing for the better.

My point?The past always comes back to bite you in the *** until a person truly works through it.It does make things worse at first,but they do eventually get better.

Many of my symptoms are kind of clear cut. Some not. I got the doctor back that thinks I have bipolar. I had some medication triggered hypomanic episodes but that does not make you bipolar IMO. When I had her last and she thought I had it, my moods were all over the place, sure. But that does not have to be bipolar. I'm stable with just an SSRI and no "mood stabilizer", not sure that would be possible for a bipolar person. After I got on the right meds I've never had any hypomania. I used to "want" to be labeled with BP back then (ages ago) but I think it was because they took bipolars seriously and us depressed people were just told we were lazy. So for me for a while I didn't see depression as a real illness because my therapist told me bipolar is real but depression is just laziness and bad habits.

I feel this! I'm only 16 but nearly every doctor I've had has confirmed I'm bipolar. I have extreme symptoms that have caused me to get kicked out of school and lose my job. Borderline Personality Disorder also runs in my family, something that I believe is most likely affecting me. Perhaps being underage is what's causing my doctors/therapists/etc to disregard the suggestion? People around me very quickly identify something is seriously wrong. Psychotic symptoms that less mirror bipolar/bpd and more mirror schizo-spectrum disorders are also causing some serious issues in my life. I don't know how to deal with it to be honest, but doctors have such differing opinions that I don't know what to believe.

Hi
It sounds like you are fairly clear about what you need to do to support you.
I think diagnoses just reflect a cluster of symptoms, nothing more, nothing less. To some extent I don't agree with solid/fixed labels. And many illness have symptoms which overlap.

Take my favourite hobby horse PTSD and Trauma- the symptoms of this (chronic hyper and hypo arousal) are almost exactly the same as Bi-polar mania and depressive phases . I think depression can foster anxiety and vice versa or repressed anger can manifest as depression or shame can manifest as agoraphobia? And my symptoms change, sometimes I am more anxious/phobic, while other times I am depressed or hyper. If I fill out a tick box psych assessment the score would vary from one day to the next. Hope this makes some sort of sense.

So how I use labels is to look at what symptoms I have eg currently phobia and anxiety and try to reduce the impact of these. Sometimes a diagnosis can be useful in identifying which type of help or strategy will work eg with autism- visual clues are sometimes better than talking/giving directions whereas if someone is psychotic or suicidal than perhaps hospitalizations for safety is best intervention. I really do think psychiatry is still experimental to some degree and has not really got a handle on mental illness.

i like to work with a counsellor not too caught up in diagnosis, who are aware of diagnosis and symptoms etc but are more interested in seeing me as a person and my life as a whole, not as an illness or a deficit, but a counsellor who supports my process as a normal part of life and growth.
Phew I went on a bit of a rant then- so will stop now.
Regards jodie

I think it is fair to say never self diagnose - especially based on the internet.

Mine seem pretty consistent but I have a few of the "ticket items" that are meter pegging obvious. The only one that is odd is the disassociation thing, I don't feel like there's any multiple or alternate consciousness, nor dpr'ish stuff going on, but my memory is so awful I'll always score high there.

But just basically a schizoid with depression and a bit of anxiety; I don't gamble, but if I did, its pretty much a sure deal. Will likely know from a professional in a few months, but that's just my guess.

I'm schizoaffective too. I agree with you. Too many shrinks, meds and manic storms. I almost wonder what it would be like med free. I wonder if some of these meds are symptom activating. Eh. I'm currently entering a manic phase and can feel it. No sleep, or too much sleep and I'm becoming extremely paranoid that my neighbors are watching me. This is going to fun .