Group hug (((lou2))) Oh, a lame hug yourself moment:)

Thanks be for Capt'n Vagues sage advice

Lou, I completely agree with you, there are very different challenges with BP1. My point was that I never saw where this thread intended to bash BP1 as was done with BP2 as the thread progressed.

We all suffer, our pain very real, very agonizing, I dont think it is at all about who suffers more but that we support "any" of us that is suffering and try to respect that we all have valued questions.

Philosophy, my bp was triggered in adolescence by trauma too- it's not an uncommon scenario/

Stress+ predisposition to develop BP

you are absolutely right lou2..the challenges are different.
the difference with bp2 is we do not suffer manic episodes, no psychosis ...only hypomania ,dysphric hypomania..can also have mixed states ,rapid cycling.
this is the basic diagnosis criteria here in the uk
and we can suffer longer periods of depression and just as severe as with bp1
hugs hugs hugs

Hugs Amanda Rich :)) xx

(((((((((((((Group Hug)))))))))))))

I think returning to the original question and deftly sequing in something Shelly said..

The map is not the territory, ie the descriptions/diagnostics for BP1 and BP2 are an artificial guide and I think that was possibly Hanna's main thrust. However, the experience of both BP1 and BP2 are something completely different.

I accept the view given here that psychosis really is of an order of magnitude/ a quantum greater than hypomania in BP2, I also think it is true that after an episode that the sufferer would be in no doubt. I understand how it irks some of the BP1 people here that people use the term mania so loosely and it can sometimes appear that BP2 people seem to think that BP1 experience is just a bit more than BP2.

Equally I understand that the BP2 people sometimes feel that they are being told their suffering is trivial by people that don't really know them.

I would stress that these are perceptions and they are probably not what people meant when they posted here, not just in this thread but countless other ones.

That group hug is fast becoming mandatory.

so no one else is hugging their laptop??
is it just me?
hugs

Warm & Fuzzy (Group Huggles) awww feeling the lurve xx

I don't have anything to contribute to this thread though I have been keeping up with it, of course. I just stopped by to get in on this love fest!!

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((GROUP HUGZ))))))))))))))))))))))))))

This same discussion comes up every few months and always gets like this. Sorry, Hanna....nothing to do with you, it's just a very volatile topic.
There IS a solution but I think it sucks...hopefully everyone else will too.
We could request DS to give us two groups like the diabetics have One for type 1 and One for type 2. Told ya you wouldn't like it. But it WOULD stop this same argument over and over...or maybe not :-)

first off, i have read all the replies.

i don't want us to have a main bp1 or bp2 board. i want us all to cohabitate together.

i understand the uproar as i have been judged less worthy of a bp/schizoaffective disorder because my diagnosis is what some people have referred to as "bp lite" otherwise known as NOS.

get a grip

Jamie, not sure where you heard that BP NOS is bp lite...but there is a name for bp lite and it's called cyclothymic disorder.
As for NOS...it means exactly what it says...not otherwise specified.

In my case, my pdoc used NOS since he wasn't sure if I was type 1 or type 2. So there is obviously nothing "lite" about it.

Just wanted to correct this misconception for others with the NOS dx, too..

And don't feel bad, Jamie (and Hanna)....doesn't matter what others think anyhow. Hugs, Bobbi

I can see where the confusion lies with a BP NOS dx.

Bipolar Disorder, NOS (from mentalhealth.com)

This classification is included in the DSM to enable mental health professionals to diagnose disorders with bipolar features that do not meet criteria for any of the defined bipolar disorder subtypes (as described above). For instance, a person who rapidly alternates (over days) between manic and depressive symptoms may be classified under this category. Recurring hypomanic episodes without interim depressive symptoms can lead to this diagnosis as well. A clinician may label a person with bipolar disorder, NOS when he or she suffers from manic or mixed episodes that appear to be part of a delusional disorder, residual schizophrenia, or psychotic disorder that is also difficult to classify.

The NOS diagnosis is also sometimes used provisionally, when doctors do not feel they have enough information yet to make a proper diagnosis, but wish to document their impression that a condition is an instance of bipolar disorder.

According to this article BP NOS could be anything from cyclothymic disorder to BP 1. Hope this helps to clarify it.

Had the wrong website....here's the link:
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=11209&cn=4