Comorbidity

I apologize if this thread is not in the right place.

Just wondering how many of you have been dx'ed with more than one mental disorder. I know this is a fairly common occurrence but I'm just curious as to what your dxes are, or if you were dx'ed with a particular disorder in the past that your doc (or a new doc) later said was a misdiagnosis?

I was dx'ed with ADD at the age of six. When I was 21, I was told I had Borderline Personality Disorder. Then I was dx'ed with Bipolar II Disorder with borderline and OC traits. Eight years later I have been told I have Asperger's syndrome and OCD.

In my case, I had a lot of things going on in my head that I didn't share with my Ts. Sounds horribly stupid, I know. But I would get stuck on one particular event, or a couple events, in my life that were occupying all my head space, and would obsess about them for the entirety of my weekly, or bimonthly, visits, so I never shared that I hate to be touched, feel socially awkward, memorize strings of info most people don't give a hoot about, am ridiculously sensitive to certain sounds and light, have disturbing thoughts I can't get rid of, pick at myself, have ritualistic behaviors, etc, etc, etc. And somehow, I was never asked any questions that might have led to me bringing these things up.

So I guess my questions are what have you been dx'ed with, and have you gone un-dx'ed simply because you didn't share pertinent info with your Ts/pdocs for awhile? Or am I the only weirdo who wouldn't talk about certain feelings because I thought they were "normal"...

Hi VanillaBean!

I think you are asking really good questions. I also think that you may get some very different answers from some of the members according to their individual experiences and also the fact that over the years the face of psychology/psychiatry has changed and grown.

I don't think you are at all weird by not telling your T certain things throughout the years because your head was filled with obsessive thoughts. Many many people think that their thoughts and/or traits are normal. They are normal to us and why in the world should we think that they are anything but normal until someone speaks up about them to us? (providing they figure things out without us discussing)

It is also not unusual for people to be afraid to tell their T's everything they are thinking about for many different fears they may have. Trust is a big issue for a lot of folks. There is also the thought that our T's would think badly of us if we told them exactly what was on our minds. It's hard to remember that for the most part, our T's are good people and not their to judge us, but to help us work through our problems.

I hope that you have finally received a good dx and are getting the proper therapy/meds etc.

Take good care!

sabby

For seventeen years I was told I was Bipolar then about three years ago I was told no that was wrong I am really BPD ! Oh well as long as the meds are working who cares lmao.

hello, you may find information about BPD under Borderline personality disorder. I put some links there this morning that may help you. I hope they help.. JG+

Thanks, sabby!

You mentioned trust - that is quite a big issue for me. I didn't mention it in my initial post because I was more focused on my tendency to simply think my thoughts and behaviors were "normal", therefore not worthy of being mentioned in any sessions with my docs. But I also have found myself not sharing certain things for fear of being betrayed somehow...

Lol... I feel the same way about my bipolar dx. The stuff they give me works... who knows...

Thanks, JG

For years I had gone through life thinking I was "just" Borderline and Bipolar II. Then I had been admitted to a local psych hospital where I met up with my current Pdoc whom I greatly love and admire and he wanted to get to the bottom of all my problems so he had me do all these tests and meet with a psychologist whose job is solely to diagnose people. Well I went in with 2 diagnoses and came out with 6. I am still trying to wrap my little mind around them all and after reading about them I do agree that I have them. According to my therapist and doctor I have Borderline Personality, Bipolar II, Dependent Personality, Avoidant Personality, OCD and ADD. I tried rebelling against having them all but they gave me literature explaining them all and after reading about them I have to say that they are right on the money with them all. I will probably be on meds for the rest of my life and in therapy for the rest of my life if not for a really long time. But I may have these things wrong with me I try not to let them define me.

Jan

Mental health diagnosis isn't an exact science. And we also change from one part of our lives to the next, so the areas that we struggle with do tend to shift around.

ADHD in childhood often predicts that you are likely to have other struggles as you mature, ranging from personality disorders to depression to substance abuse and addictive behaviors, etc. And, also, ADHD has been over-diagnosed and used as a catch-all for kids who stand out in one way or another. Bipolar disorder has become "the new ADHD" in recent years, as it has been diagnosed more and more, not always appropriately.

I have had several dx too. Didn't get any therapy until after I had left home, although I know I was depressed throughout childhood. The first therapist I went to told me that I was just homesick (I know I was severly depressed and had no social skills). The next one diagnosed dependent and avoidant personality disorders. Not all of them gave me a dx, but I was in treatment eventually for depression several times. Also dysthymic disorder, social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder. BPD fits, but never got put down on paper. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what the dx is so much as that you get treatment that helps with what you struggle with.

I've been diagnosed with MDD, CPTSD, and Substance abuse Disorder. Whenever I see a new pdoc, like when my regular pdoc is on leave they try to diagnose me as borderline, but I'm convinced that's only because I used to cut, so I don't talk about cutting anymore except with people I really trust.

I think trust is really huge - it took me a long time to trust my addictions dr to talk about my psych issues because I was afraid she'd think I was a freak. It also took me forever to admit my drinking problem to my T and my pdoc because I was afraid they'd judge me or stop treating me or soemthing. In reality they were both really supportive and helpful.

I think it's pretty common for people to have more than one Dx. Some days I don't agree with the CPTSD Dx that I have, mainly because I don't want to think my childhood was that bad, but I do know I fit the symptoms.

I'm also sort of of the opinion that I don't really care about the labels as long as the drugs are working.

--splitimage

I've had multiple dx, Depression, Bipolar, GAD, and OCD. I don't think you're alone not sharing information doctor I know the majority of my problem is wanting to deal with it on my own. The Bipolar for example came out after seeing my doctor for quite a long time. I only sought treatment when I was severely depressed so he didn't really "know" about the manic stages even though the other doctors in the practice I see when he's not available were aware of it, they just never thought to document it.

Over 80% of people who meet criteria for one dx meet criteria for more than one.

There is much debate (and there has been much debate for a while) about the utility of diagnostic categories compared to particular symptoms that a patient is experiencing. Diagnostic categories have a significant overlap (such that comorbidity is often a matter of counting the same symptoms two or three times) and different clinicians tend to see the disorders that interest them (inter-rater reliability on psychiatric diagnosis is poor - not much better than chance).

This is complicated by the issue of health insurance and clinicians have considerable scope to alter diagnosis to cater for the patients interests with respect to what the insurance will and will not cover.

Treatments tend to be catered to symptoms rather than diagnostic categories (e.g., medications and even forms of therapy).

Hopefully diagnostic categories will be done away with in the near future. What is holding up progress is controversy over how we are best to capture the symptoms.

Got a few of them with BPD!!! Health issues is a big one. I have anxiety, ptsd, depression and health issues.

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I've been given every diagnosis over last 28 years but psychiatrists usually treat the symptoms and never talk about diagnosis. I think that's because not much is known about mood disorders and other organic mental disorders - a lot of them have common symptoms. There's a lot of literature online about diagnoses and issues with DSM-V. I take the diagnosis codes on my bills with a grain of salt now.
http://www.madinamerica.com

I am "dual diagnosis" in the sense that I am recovering from alcoholism/drug addiction, plus have Bipolar I. Probably 10 years after the bp1 diagnosis, I was diagnosed with panic disorder. I don't know if the panic disorder is accurate because I can't tell you the last time I had a panic attack.

I do, however, think I may have GAD. My T agrees that I have anxiety. She didn't specifically diagnose me with GAD, I don't think. I will have to ask her.