Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Schizophrenia

Lady Gaga;:

After reading through here, I predict I'm Bipolar II.

You said you've been in therapy for two months. I'm surprised your therapist hasn't mentioned any signs of bipolar or other mental illness? They haven't given you any tests or questionnaires to fill out to assess you?

I'm off the drugs and into psycho-analysis. :(

I never thought there was something wrong with me.
My parents threw me in the institution.
I was diagnosed bipolar by one doctor, paranoid schizophrenic by another, but my psychiatrist thinks I have a literal case of split personality, where I have two distinct personalities that don't interact with eachother. He calls one side "the princess."
I have my theories
My parents say the more I deny it the more "obvious" my condition is.
I do have delusions. I'll answer somebody's question who wasn't even talking or ask for my jacket back when I didn't even lend it to them.
I always lose things and accuse people of theft because I saw them holding it or move it or I'll think I handed it to them.
I never noticed this until I was in the hospital. I just thought people were lying all the time.
Deciphering reality from my imagination is the hardest thing to do and one of the worst feelings I've ever felt is not being able to trust myself, or trust anything I see, I say, or do
It hurts that I have to explain to people I'm close to why I get so frustrated and angry with them sometimes and to get them to understand I don't intentionally lie. They probably think I'm lying again.

nicegirl:

I never thought there was something wrong with me.
My parents threw me in the institution.
I was diagnosed bipolar by one doctor, paranoid schizophrenic by another, but my psychiatrist thinks I have a literal case of split personality, where I have two distinct personalities that don't interact with eachother. He calls one side "the princess."
I have my theories
My parents say the more I deny it the more "obvious" my condition is.
I do have delusions. I'll answer somebody's question who wasn't even talking or ask for my jacket back when I didn't even lend it to them.
I always lose things and accuse people of theft because I saw them holding it or move it or I'll think I handed it to them.
I never noticed this until I was in the hospital. I just thought people were lying all the time.
Deciphering reality from my imagination is the hardest thing to do and one of the worst feelings I've ever felt is not being able to trust myself, or trust anything I see, I say, or do
It hurts that I have to explain to people I'm close to why I get so frustrated and angry with them sometimes and to get them to understand I don't intentionally lie. They probably think I'm lying again.

But didn't your doctors give any kind of anti-psychotics to stop the symptoms once they diagnosed you?

My mum's been diagnosed with Bipolar type I ever since she was sixteen and I'm kind of worried that it's been genetically transferred to me because this year (which is my sixteenth aswell ), I've been experiencing weird mood swings, from happy to anger to major depression, back to happy again and then it happens all over again almost like a cycle, which is almost exactly what my mum does.

I used to, very seldom get angry and that's still the same now, but recently, whenever I get upset about something, I stay upset for a couple of days and I dwell on the same thing, almost to the point of no sleep. With sadness, I just don't do anything; I don't sleep, don't eat, I criticize myself until I cry, lose interest in the things that I normally do and don't like having contact with anyone but myself. This goes on for a couple of days.

When I'm happy, I'm ecstatic. My voice goes up a few tones higher and I jump around and talk so much that everything I say ends up sounding like complete gibberish. I'm overactive and I feel like nothing's wrong with the world (which actually, I think is a lot better than feeling like shit) to a point where I create this impression on people that I'm either too fucked up from whatever drugs they think I'm doing or just from lack of sleep. And then when people comment on myself, like my body or my thoughts--because I often say them aloud, regardless if they'll hurt someone's feelings or if they're the dark and nasty ones that I've kept in my head--I go back into this... depressive or angry state, which scares people even more.

I don't know, it seems a lot more than what my mum does whenever she has one of her episodes, when I realize it's almost the same. She's usually alright, but when something big happens and she reacts, our family members tell her that she should stop "being weird" and "acting stupid". She ends up telling them to fuck off, stop controlling her and let her live her own life, which eventually lands her in the hospital for a few months.

I'd go to a doctor, except for the fact that I'm really paranoid of her going "Yeah, you have it too", so I'd really appreciate it if someone gave me their input. As stupid as it sounds, I'd rather have it from a user here than a professional.

kafka.:

But didn't your doctors give any kind of anti-psychotics to stop the symptoms once they diagnosed you?

Oh, yeah, I'm on my third medication. They gave me depakote for hallucinations but it caused them to get worse and give me nightmares. Right now I'm just on a mood stabilizer because the psychiatrist I have now (who thinks it's just split personality) wants to "level me out" and have my therapist and parents observe me before making a solid diagnosis around the time I turn 18.

About two years ago I was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia. It was really bad. I would just sit in the corner of my room totally still for hours, and no one would be able to get through to me. I had bad hallucinations and delusions as well, leading me to lash out at family members, believing that they were spies trying to kill me >.<

I was also diagnosed with depression, and that also hit me hard. I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat, I was always in tears, I couldn't feel any positive emotions. I started to think obsessively of killing myself or harming others. It was a really bad time.

Luckily, I'm getting the medication and the therapy to begin to recover now. It's a time in my life I never want to go back to. No one deserves it.

Reb; 11:17.:

About two years ago I was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia. It was really bad. I would just sit in the corner of my room totally still for hours, and no one would be able to get through to me. I had bad hallucinations and delusions as well, leading me to lash out at family members, believing that they were spies trying to kill me >.<

I was also diagnosed with depression, and that also hit me hard. I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat, I was always in tears, I couldn't feel any positive emotions. I started to think obsessively of killing myself or harming others. It was a really bad time.

Luckily, I'm getting the medication and the therapy to begin to recover now. It's a time in my life I never want to go back to. No one deserves it.

Therapy classes actually make me more suicidal than ever.
I was starving, never sleeping, etc. from depression but I didn't think about killing myself until they started poking at me.
Nothing is better except the heavy sleeping medication helps me sleep.
I'm no different than before I went in.
I'm glad it helps for you though, it probably has a lot to do with your therapist/psychiatrists
Mine just might suck.
I've hated every one that I've seen

I've been showing signs of depression for almost 5 years. I've been taking pills since I was 12, and I've had the illness non-stop for 2 years. I got diagnosed in December last year, and have been seeing a therapist ever since.

I get SAD too. My depression is hideous in the winter. But it's summer at the moment, so...yeah .
It's a weird illness to have. It can be a gift in a way. Many of the best poems and stories that I've written have come as a product of it. But you get to a point where you're so suicidal that you just can't be fucked to do anything anymore.

Aha, as EA puts it so brilliantly:
Why bother bothering, just for a poem or another sad song to sing...?

To anyone who does not believe mental disorders are an illness -

From my understanding, an illness harms you. For twelve years, I could not sleep in my own bed, had hallucinations, panic attacks, and, most recently, paranoia. I did not sleep all night. No, it was not insomnia. Insomnia is when you can't sleep, what I had was severe anxiety and recurring disturbing images in my brain - dwead bodies, etc. Within ten minutes of lying in my own bed I would anticipate stretching out and fidning a corpse beside me. Even now I am in the habit of lying sprawled across my bed. I considered suicide, something no twelve-year-old should have to do.

Anyone who says that that is not harming is just...

Sorry. Just had to get that rant out. I hate when people say mental disorders are just ways to get attention. I also hate when others say that anyone on pills is insane, retarded, etc. I need my pills or I can't sleep at night. This does not make me "retarded". I hate intolerance.

/annoying pointless rant.

I think it's possible I have depression or some kind of anxiety.
One of my close friends just tried to commit suicide, which makes all matter worse.
And I have a cutting problem and I can't get over it.
Any suggestions about the cutting?

What's crazy is that I've met a guy will all of those disorders plus insomnia. He said he had bad genes. But I've never met him in person but he's described a lot about it.

I didn't know he was schizophrenic for the longest. He tried to break in down by saying that he talked to himself. I didn't think that was good enough explanation though because I find myself talking to myself sometimes. It would probably have been better for him to say that he had conversations with himself. Then I'd understand. Our voices in his head. Anytime he said he heard voices in his head I thought it was because of drugs because he did a lot of drugs. And then he's hallucinate. I thought he was on acid or something. Maybe it was his schiz. He eventually ended up telling me.

Then we'd text all night until I got tired. He didn't get tired (obviously). His past was really rickety. His mother didn't even know he had schiz. I couldn't tell when he was experiencing mania and or depression by text but when he told me about how is day was and how he felt about it, I kind of figured which one he was experiencing.

It took a little bit to milk him. When I first met him, I didn't know what was coming at all. All I knew was that he lived in Italy.

Then he'd questioned why I even talked to him, probably because other people in his life have eventually turned on him, but I don't discriminate against people very well no matter what sickness someone might have or whatever. Actually, I'd be the first person to make friends with people like that. I just don't like ignorance, stupidity and cruelty.

But now I haven't talked to him because he's in a hospital for people with illnesses like his. I kind of miss talking to him although he was often short on words. I did most of the talking.

deathpunch:

I think it's possible I have depression or some kind of anxiety.
One of my close friends just tried to commit suicide, which makes all matter worse.
And I have a cutting problem and I can't get over it.
Any suggestions about the cutting?

I wish I did. the person I described above had those problems. I tried to come to a medium with the issue but I'm no doctor.

Maybe you should see a psychologist. That helped my friend a lot better than a therapist did. Their approach seems to be different than a therapists and it seems that they're good at finding out whatever is causing problems in people. My old friends psychologist found out he was schiz.

EDIT.

What I want to know though, is how does depression come? I know it can come from a death or something but what else could contribute to it? I've never been depressed, just felt like shit sometimes because of stress and other people not seeming to care or help or even make my stress worse. Is that a factor that contributes to it?

I'm bipolar.
My friends don't believe me, but I am.
It used to be so servere, but I'm off my pills.
It's better, but they don't know I suffer, especially with ADHD.

If you were to go to a psychiatrist, could they medicate your symptoms without labelling it as an illness? Or is being diagnosed with an identified mental illness necessary in order for these symptoms to be medicated? If that makes sense...

My psychologist referred me to a psychiatrist as she feels that I may need medication. Obviously they would be looking for signs of mental illness, but would they only medicate my symptoms if these were labelled as being a result of a specific illness?

cemetery drive.:

If you were to go to a psychiatrist, could they medicate your symptoms without labelling it as an illness? Or is being diagnosed with an identified mental illness necessary in order for these symptoms to be medicated? If that makes sense...

My psychologist referred me to a psychiatrist as she feels that I may need medication. Obviously they would be looking for signs of mental illness, but would they only medicate my symptoms if these were labelled as being a result of a specific illness?

Would you start giving someone drugs without really knowing what was wrong with them? If you have symptoms, the likelihood is that they correspond to some sort of mental illness and you'd probably need to be diagnosed as such before they started giving you medication for it. You can't really treat symptoms without thinking about the cause.

Thank you.

Because my psychologist was quite casual about it like, "I'm not qualified for this, so I think I'll refer you to someone who is. I know there are some really effective medications to help with this sort of thing, and a psychiatrist will be able to prescribe you that."

She even said that she was 90% sure of a specific medication corresponding to my symptoms. Now I'm fearing that means she is 90% sure that I have a mental illness, in her opinion.

Though she never once mentioned a mental illness, from what you've said and the general knowledge that psychologists can't diagnose, I'm guessing that she did not want to infer too much beyond her qualifications? Especially if she turned out to be wrong. And it also seems she probably simplified this process with her wording so as not to alarm me too much.

Another thing: is the confidentiality of a psychiatry session similar to one of a regular psychologist? Not so much about my father knowing that I'm going (as he already does, and is supportive of this), but in terms of what they'll tell him about my symptoms and stuff like that? I understand they'd have to tell him if it turns out that I do have a mental illness, and about the medication they may prescribe, but would they go into specifics about exactly what I'm experiencing?

playground eyes.:

She even said that she was 90% sure of a specific medication corresponding to my symptoms. Now I'm fearing that means she is 90% sure that I have a mental illness, in her opinion.

I'm confused as to what you mean by this - symptoms don't exist in isolation, logically they have to correspond to some underlying illness or disease. It sounds like your psychologist is just being cautious and not wanting to diagnose you with something herself if she doesn't feel qualified to do so. Being diagnosed with a mental illness is a huge thing for someone to come to terms with and it'd be even harder to deal with if she diagnosed you incorrectly so I think she's just being careful in your best interests.

Patient confidentiality is still patient confidentiality, it exists right across the medical profession I don't think they'd be allowed to tell your father specific details without your permission. It'd be unethical.

^ Yeah, that is what I meant by her probably not wanting to infer too much beyond her qualifications, which is also why I think she was careful not to mention specific illnesses. She was the one who stated the 90% thing, which alarmed me as although she is not qualified to diagnose, she is still experienced with psychology and her belief for the prospect of a mental illness being this likely is definitely nervewracking.

Thank you very much for the information.

playground eyes.:

Another thing: is the confidentiality of a psychiatry session similar to one of a regular psychologist? Not so much about my father knowing that I'm going (as he already does, and is supportive of this), but in terms of what they'll tell him about my symptoms and stuff like that? I understand they'd have to tell him if it turns out that I do have a mental illness, and about the medication they may prescribe, but would they go into specifics about exactly what I'm experiencing?

How old are you?

If you're a minor, they may have to tell your legal guardian what meds you're on and if you have a mental illness, but as far the exact problems you're going through - (i.e, in your personal life) they will - or should - remain confidential.

^ I'm sixteen, so if they find that I do have a mental illness, I will understand them telling him this as well as the meds they'll prescribe for it. But the last part (about them not revealing the specifics of my personal issues) is very reassuring, so thank you for confirming that.