Bipolar

[BruceCM]

Just to let you know I'm now officially diagnosed with bipolar, too. Due to an episode of hypomania about 10 years ago & a depressive one at the weekend.

 

[Geordie]

I also self-diagnosed myself as Bipolar. But I think I'm managing it rather well. I don't want yet another diagnosis if they don't help in my employment situation

Spoiler

 

[BruceCM]

The way the 'support services' are currently pushing me, I think I'll have to go for diagnoses of paranoid, insecurities, inferiority, superiority & guilt complexes. I'd have said I was dealing with those fairly well but, apparently, the only way to get these 'idiots' to take me seriously is to get a qualified professional to say so! It's ridiculous they don't think I can tell the difference between my paranoid thoughts & feelings & problems that do arise. Is there something to cover emotional rollercoaster or isn't there anybody that can distinguish between that & mood swings?

 

[Geordie]

Sometimes I manage my mood swings by first identifying it (knowing my energy or motivational levels drop), and go away from others in a secluded spot, listening to my favourite songs. If this doesn't work, I sleep.

 

[WildCat]

I don't know if it's bipolar, but I'll switch moods at the drop of a dime. Like, one minute I'll be laughing to myself and the next minute I'm pissed off at the world for absolutely no valid reason.

May have something to do with my heavy caffeine intake which results in me going into a mental hyperdrive, may be something on a neurological level, really don't know. I hate self diagnosis of anything but just thought I'd share.

 

[Geordie]

I don't think my own bipolar is caused by caffeine intake. It could be due to heavy stress from my secondary school days.

 

[BruceCM]

Well, bipolar basically means extreme mood swings. I'm sure you can google it, if you want more info.

 

[WildCat]

I don't think my own bipolar is caused by caffeine intake. It could be due to heavy stress from my secondary school days.

Heavy caffeine usage in itself doesn't cause bipolar. Excess caffeine intake can cause changes in mood, yeah, of course. Bipolar is more neurological in nature much like OCD and you either have it or you don't to a certain degree, but assuming that you have a diagnosis I'd imagine that both would exaceberate your symptoms.

 

[Geordie]

Now I really think I might have both OCD and BP

 

[BruceCM]

I currently feel suicidal & I'm depressed. It seems the Dr I saw at the w/e managed to translate mood level 2 on scale of 1-10 into hyper, or something! Trying to get support services idiots to take me at all seriously is a flipping nightmare. Almost as bad as the problems I'm trying to get some actual help with in the first place. Very similar sorts of problems, too. Which makes it impossible for me to believe their supposed 'solutions'. But nobody seems to understand that. It's a flipping nightmare! Except I won't wake up in the morning, will I? :-(

 

[BruceCM]

I've managed to clarify the situation & have just been diagnosed with sever depression!

 

[Geordie]

Bruce, I wish you strength to overcome depression.

 

[BruceCM]

Don't suppose there's any new ideas what to do about the causes? IE having very similar sorts of problems with the 'support' services as the ones with which I'm trying to get the help? As in all the usual stuff I'm usually going on about.

 

[King_Oni]

Well... at first, do you know, and are you certain that those are the causes? If you know what the causes are, I think people are willing to help you. I doubt it's just a matter of "let's drug him up with happy pills". I do believe that there's a spectrum of causes which usually trigger why someone feels the way he does, even if it's paranoia, depression and whatnot. They hardly come out of the blue.

Rereading your final post here a bit. Are you stating that you for instance get depressed because the doctors make you feel depressed? Why? Because of the way they treat you? Or is it because you don't want to see them?

 

[BruceCM]

I get on fine with my GP but I don't need to see her very often. It's the other 'support' services I really don't seem to be able to get on with. They're too much like 'normal' people, so the communication gulf between myself & any 'support' services person is almost as great as between me & most other people. Whether it's intended that way or not, most of what they say to me sounds seriously patronizing/ condescending. As far as I'm concerned, the main cause for this particular episode is those difficulties.

 

[King_Oni]

I get on fine with my GP but I don't need to see her very often. It's the other 'support' services I really don't seem to be able to get on with. They're too much like 'normal' people, so the communication gulf between myself & any 'support' services person is almost as great as between me & most other people. Whether it's intended that way or not, most of what they say to me sounds seriously patronizing/ condescending. As far as I'm concerned, the main cause for this particular episode is those difficulties.

Have you expressed this towards them? My best guess is that they might ask you "why do you feel it's patronizing?" if they don't ask stuff like that, then in my opinion they're bad at what they're doing. A therapist (of sorts, or whatever the people you're seeing are being called) should at least make sure his client should feel comfy and not up his level on stress even more.

Apparently they also haven't understood what your well.. "kryptonite" is. If someone is getting irate/depressed/sad or whatever because of how people interact with him, they're better looking into that, rather than just trying to fix something that ain't broke.

Perhaps this is the way they think it needs to be fixed, but you're still allowed to express that you don't like how they intend to "fix" you. Ask if there's other ways, if there's other competent staff or other means. There's more than one clinic around I guess.

 

[BruceCM]

Well, I'm limited to the NHS, as I can't afford private treatment. Given the 'communication gulf' between myself & most 'support' services people is almost as great as between me & most other people, it's effectively impossible to get through to them. If they did ask why I felt it was patronizing, I'd have to say it's the way it came across. Whether intended that way or not is irrelevant.

 

[King_Oni]

Well, I'm limited to the NHS, as I can't afford private treatment. Given the 'communication gulf' between myself & most 'support' services people is almost as great as between me & most other people, it's effectively impossible to get through to them. If they did ask why I felt it was patronizing, I'd have to say it's the way it came across. Whether intended that way or not is irrelevant.

If intention is purposeful, then yes, it is relevant. Because they might try and talk to you in another way.

I don't know how NHS works exactly, but over here, I'm still allowed to choose which therapist I visit. Perhaps you should express it at the NHS office. Maybe they'll look into it.

 

[BruceCM]

I've no way of knowing if it is deliberate. I can't go accusing them of doing it deliberately when it might well not be meant that way. Since I so hate being called things like that myself. In theory, there's all sorts of ways to try to address the problems but all of them involve communication, which is well established not to work for these matters! I'll probably have to check on the official complaints procedures & go through them, at this rate, though.

 

[Occasional_Demon]

Sorry to hear that you're BP.

I find things like maintaining a mood tracker and trying to identify what can trigger a upswing or downswing to be really useful. If you can note the triggers, then you have a better chance of avoiding times when things just turn to utter ****.

I don't know if this would help, but sometimes people bring along a support person when they see a therapist or other support services, who can better articulate your situation and your needs. Sometimes it's useful because it's extra proof, for lack of a better word, of what you are experiencing because you would have another person backing you up.

I've been pretty fortunate that my current treatment team listens to what I say, instead of judging me on how I present, because I can appear very calm and rational while saying things like, "I want to kill myself." I will even laugh while saying those words. In the past, I've had doctors discount me because of how I presented, because apparently you're supposed to appear "distressed" when depressed. Or something.