I am beginning a new section of blog posts titled "Support". I am going to be more active on s few support group sites and when I answer a question that I feel may be beneficial to others who may share the same question, I will paraphrase the original questions, and the copy and paste my answer here! I hope this may be helpful!!
"I was given the diagnosis of bipolar... I have been hospitalized... I am now on Lamictal and Seroquel for the "disorder" and I have been stable for a while, almost a year. I wonder if the symptoms were made up or if I used them as an excuse for my "manic" behavior. Is this in my head? I really don't know..."
I have had the same troubles with wondering if I made it up... or used it as an excuse. Then I want to throw the meds away and scream... which never ends well and it turns out, for me, it was just a symptom.
Bipolar and other mood disorders, from depression, cyclothymia, dyshtymia, and other affect disorders all fall along a continuous spectrum. Further complicating the diagnosis process is the face each individual will present symptoms differently based on their genetics, personality, and environment. For a clinician, it is a "best guess" of what is the "best fit" for the symptoms you present to the or describe at the present time.
The bottom line, don't let your self get too wrapped up in the name of a diagnosis. Let the pdoc call you a flying purple people eater for all you care. What matters is the treatment you use and you getting better. If Lamictal works for you, then great. If something else works, even better. Try to not focus so much on what label to put on yourself and put more energy towards finding a balance of meds/therapy/etc that make *you* feel like *you*. Of course if your pdoc is just an idiot and you don't feel he/she is doing any good... then of course move on.
Best wishes.
Ann
I am beginning a new section of blog posts titled "Support". I am going to be more active on s few support group sites and when I answer a question that I feel may be beneficial to others who may share the same question, I will paraphrase the original questions, and the copy and paste my answer here! I hope this may be helpful!!
"I was given the diagnosis of bipolar... I have been hospitalized... I am now on Lamictal and Seroquel for the "disorder" and I have been stable for a while, almost a year. I wonder if the symptoms were made up or if I used them as an excuse for my "manic" behavior. Is this in my head? I really don't know..."
I have had the same troubles with wondering if I made it up... or used it as an excuse. Then I want to throw the meds away and scream... which never ends well and it turns out, for me, it was just a symptom.
Bipolar and other mood disorders, from depression, cyclothymia, dyshtymia, and other affect disorders all fall along a continuous spectrum. Further complicating the diagnosis process is the face each individual will present symptoms differently based on their genetics, personality, and environment. For a clinician, it is a "best guess" of what is the "best fit" for the symptoms you present to the or describe at the present time.
The bottom line, don't let your self get too wrapped up in the name of a diagnosis. Let the pdoc call you a flying purple people eater for all you care. What matters is the treatment you use and you getting better. If Lamictal works for you, then great. If something else works, even better. Try to not focus so much on what label to put on yourself and put more energy towards finding a balance of meds/therapy/etc that make *you* feel like *you*. Of course if your pdoc is just an idiot and you don't feel he/she is doing any good... then of course move on.
Best wishes.
Ann