Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
So I went for my initial assesment today oh joy. The woman who I saw did not seem very helpful or understanding at all. She asked me questions and I tried my best to answer them but she was trying to make excuses for my moods or suicide attempts. Like you where 14 its hard time for all teenagers.
How much sleep do I get on average when I am up - i can't remember. Its not something I have thought about before. Her reply was well you would remember not sleeping well! Well I struggle to reme,be very much actually! Which is why I have spent weeks and weeks writing down all the things I could think of about my life and past. Which she patronised me for. Who has been busy then?
Anyways she said she has no idea what is wrong with me and wants to refer me to a proper shrink - which by the way is what I thought she was supposed to be.
And the worst of it is when she asked me how I felt at that moment I honestly could not tell you she kept listing feeling words at me like I was 5 and didn't know how to say my feelings. Happy? Sad etc etc to the same responce I don't know how i feel right now!!!
Sorry just needed to rant should have put it on the place to vent but wanted to ask you questions which I have now forgotten
How much sleep do I get on average when I am up - i can't remember. Its not something I have thought about before. Her reply was well you would remember not sleeping well! Well I struggle to reme,be very much actually! Which is why I have spent weeks and weeks writing down all the things I could think of about my life and past. Which she patronised me for. Who has been busy then?
Anyways she said she has no idea what is wrong with me and wants to refer me to a proper shrink - which by the way is what I thought she was supposed to be.
And the worst of it is when she asked me how I felt at that moment I honestly could not tell you she kept listing feeling words at me like I was 5 and didn't know how to say my feelings. Happy? Sad etc etc to the same responce I don't know how i feel right now!!!
Sorry just needed to rant should have put it on the place to vent but wanted to ask you questions which I have now forgotten
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One day runs into the next I can't seem to keep them straightBut i do know it's Tuesday and I start to clean my landord's place again so it'll keep me going although I take breaks more often nowHe doesn't mind and I gwt it doneI hope that you have a good day and can get done what you need toBig hugz sent..Xo
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I find myself going places in the car and not wanting to get out of the car. I come back home and I don't want to get out of the car. I think it's the only time I spend reflecting. Chronic tiredness from Long Covid plus the immunosupressing meds for my Crohn's is slowing me down but everything just seems a massive effort. I am dealing with the paperwork following my father's death but it's not...
it might be a good idea to keep some record/journal of your moods... your sleep etc... that way you won't have to remember it all off the top of your head
My rule of thumb is that if I leave a pdoc or a tdoc's office feeling worse than I did when I went in it is time to look for anotherone.
Are you violent towards people (by now I was tempted bt remained calm) I smash my phone up or shout at people for no reason.
What nothing has made you angry she asked
I said hope nothing
So she said so nothing makes you angry you just are.
Well by this point she was making me angry.
Re sleep patterns I have been logging them since before xmas I know not long but it was up and down up and down ( like my temper)
All she said was oh yes you do get some sleep then.
I think what hurt ne more then anything is that my partner and father had put alot of effort into writing some background and the effects of my behavior as she dismissed both of them - like they wouldn't or couldn't notice anything!!!
Yeah cheers for that!!
Better luck with the 'real' shrink; she might've just been the social worker. I've had that with people doing the intakes; they're just the first person you work with, not necessarily the final say in your diagnosis. Unfortunately it's an annoying process and you may find yourself saying the same things to different people.
Bipolar is a tricky one to diagnose; it can manifest very differently in different people so misdiagnosis is unfortunately common.
Hopefully the 'real shrink' will get it.
I once had a tdoc convince me that I should see the psychiatric nurse in her office. I went through all of my symptoms, and she concluded that I had all the symptoms of BP, but that I was not BP. I was not the only person that thought huh?
When it is obvious what it is then they will refer you on - I expect if it sounds like unipolar depression and you are not suicidal they put you into a CBT programme - the ones they are not sure about they refer on to someone who is fully trained, ie a psychiatrist.
We are not like the US - our healthcare is universal - depression is one of the most common illnesses so vast numbers of people would go through a system to filter out those who can be easily, quickly and effectively treated by CBT trained therapists and the more complex ones that need to be seen by an expert.
I don't think even with all the psychiatrists there are in the US they would be able to handle the kinds of demand volumes a universal health service naturally generates.
Good luck for the psychiatrist visit. Take a mood chart with you.
Moodtracker.com is a good free one.
I have been doing a mood diary but because it said bipolar mood planer on it she was concerned about where i had got in from instead of what i had written. I know yesterday I was "on one" and it still wasn't a happy experiance but i guess I am lucky to be referred if its to the right person.
In the back of my mind though I kept thinking that i would end up doing cbt or anger management.
The problem is I know alot about cbt and when i can use all the tools I do. I am no way knocking cbt because it does work but that's only when I am able to be logical enough to use it.
For example if I am paranoid its for no reason and I can go through this but I am still paranoid because i am even after logic I am still paranoid. Don't know if what I have written makes any sence at all!