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Dealing with a diagnosis
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23-11-2020 10:02pm#1Hi,
Before someone attempts to close this thread, I would like to state that I am not seeking medical assistance, nor am I asking for medical advice. I am merely asking for personal experience’s and accounts.
Getting back to the topic, I would like to state that I have been recently diagnosed with Bi-polar Disorder.
I never went to my GP asking for a referral for such a condition to an experienced psychiatrist but merely stated how I was feeling which then prompted a series of questions from the doctor. You’ll all know how a diagnosis goes, so I’ll spare you the details. My whole point is I never went seeking such a diagnosis, I just merely thought my depression had hit a new but unbearable low. I never imagined I’d be given news such as this. I know I am not dead, nor have I suffered a physical wound, but I find the prospect of living with this illness to be quite scary.
I mean, it now makes sense: my mental behaviour pattern, impulses, etc. But I just put it down to a bad childhood and always did my best to reign in any mental health issues. I would never use it as an excuse for behaviour, as it isn’t one, but I didn’t need it anyway.
To give you some background - female, 25, have members of family who have been diagnosed with BPD, currently living abroad with no support system. Family also think mental health issues don’t exist - unless it’s about them.
Anyway, not to digress, the reason I have come on here is to ask anyone who has been diagnosed, or is related to someone who has it, as to how such a diagnosis has affected them? Has it helped you? Would such a diagnosis be a hindrance for future career prospects, etc? And most importantly, how do you deal with it?0
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Hey,
My best friend of 40 years has bi-polar. He's married (to someone who knew he was BP when she married him), has kids and a very well paid job.
It hasn't impacted his career prospects and that's despite having manic episodes while in jobs.
How to deal with it? Take your meds is the best bit of advice I can give you. My pal stopped taking his on numerous occasions (diagnosed at 25 thereabouts) and each time he came off them he had manic episodes which was very tough on friends, family and ultimately him when he came back down from his high.
You could also speak with a psychologist ( your psychiatrist will prescribe meds) - but a trained psychologist would help you deal with things that might be causing you stress and that might lead to an episode. Also it's good to talk to someone about this if you do not have a close friend or family member to speak with.
Read up on it - there are books that will explain more than I can here.
Sleep - make sure to get a decent night's sleep and exercise.
It's good that you are looking to see how this could effect you - from what I know and have learned in the last 20 odd years is that if you face up to it, accept your diagnosis, take your meds, take it easy, it won't/shouldn't impact you negatively.0 -
Long time poster going anonymous for this one as it's deeply personal.
I have suffered from episodes of depression for my entire adult life and tried counselling to get to the bottom of it. The psychotherapy improved many aspects of my life, relationships etc, so I don't consider it to have been a waste of time, but the depression always came back with sudden onset, unrelated to what was happening in my life.
Sometimes I had episodes of being high, but it was hypo-mania, I didn't go off the rails entirely so didn't recognise it as a manic state. To be honest, I enjoyed some aspects of the highs, but then I would crash horribly. I resisted taking the drug route for many years, but eventually the highs became fewer and shorter and the lows were as you say, OP, unbearable and lasted months. It got to the point where I really didn't want to go on, so I went to my GP, was referred to a psychiatrist and finally diagnosed with Bipolar II.
It took a little while to find the exact drug and dosage that balanced me out, but it has changed my life completely. I really regret not having taken the medical route many years ago as I lost more than a decade to this illness. It is perfectly possible to live a normal and fulfilling life, working and enjoying relationships, hobbies and interests without the spectre of the black hole and emptiness opening up to swallow you. Take the meds! They are not tranquillisers, I still feel happy, sad, angry etc but within a healthy spectrum.
As Zoobizoo suggests, get good sleep, fresh air and exercise and also a balanced diet to support your physical and mental health and you can go on to really enjoy life. I wish I'd been diagnosed in my twenties!0 -
Hi,
I have been diagnosed with bipolar too. I'm female. However I was not told if I'm bipolar 1 or 2. This was not explained to me0 -
Hi,
I have been diagnosed with height phobia. How can I manage that if any tips then please explain me because I love beautiful places but I am not enjoying with this problems. please tell me0 -
One of my friends has had this diagnosis. The main take away to give here - take the meds, go to counselling and deal with it. Not treating it can be disastrous.0
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Are you sure you have it
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, full of energy or unusually irritable.0 -
Are you sure you have it
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, full of energy or unusually irritable.
The OP’s specific question is about dealing with a diagnosis. It’s even in the thread title. I’m sure they will have received the textbook descriptions that you mention.0 -
The OP’s specific question is about dealing with a diagnosis. It’s even in the thread title. I’m sure they will have received the textbook descriptions that you mention.
All the same, there is no harm in getting a second opinion OP. After all this diagnosis was made by a general practitioner and not a specialist ie a psychiatrist, who as far as I'm aware is the only professional who is sufficiently qualified to make a (somewhat serious) diagnosis like this.
While he may well be right here, has your GP mentioned anything about referring you to one OP, since this would be a necessity for treatment etc etc In fact, this would be might next step.
Good luck!0 -
Calypso Realm wrote: »All the same, there is no harm in getting a second opinion OP. After all this diagnosis was made by a general practitioner and not a specialist ie a psychiatrist, who as far as I'm aware is the only professional who is sufficiently qualified to make a (somewhat serious) diagnosis like this.
While he may well be right here, has your GP mentioned anything about referring you to one OP, since this would be a necessity for treatment etc etc In fact, this would be might next step.
Good luck!
Id second this, OP. I’m not sure how well equipped a GP would be in dealing with BPD unless they had trained as a psychiatry before moving into general practice which can happen. If you have insurance, St Pat’s is a brilliant place to seek one out. If not, you might have to wait to get an appt0 -
Spencers60 wrote: »Hi,
Before someone attempts to close this thread, I would like to state that I am not seeking medical assistance, nor am I asking for medical advice. I am merely asking for personal experience’s and accounts.
Getting back to the topic, I would like to state that I have been recently diagnosed with Bi-polar Disorder.
I never went to my GP asking for a referral for such a condition to an experienced psychiatrist but merely stated how I was feeling which then prompted a series of questions from the doctor. You’ll all know how a diagnosis goes, so I’ll spare you the details. My whole point is I never went seeking such a diagnosis, I just merely thought my depression had hit a new but unbearable low. I never imagined I’d be given news such as this. I know I am not dead, nor have I suffered a physical wound, but I find the prospect of living with this illness to be quite scary.
I mean, it now makes sense: my mental behaviour pattern, impulses, etc. But I just put it down to a bad childhood and always did my best to reign in any mental health issues. I would never use it as an excuse for behaviour, as it isn’t one, but I didn’t need it anyway.
To give you some background - female, 25, have members of family who have been diagnosed with BPD, currently living abroad with no support system. Family also think mental health issues don’t exist - unless it’s about them.
Anyway, not to digress, the reason I have come on here is to ask anyone who has been diagnosed, or is related to someone who has it, as to how such a diagnosis has affected them? Has it helped you? Would such a diagnosis be a hindrance for future career prospects, etc? And most importantly, how do you deal with it?
Whether you were diagnosed or not, you always had it and always will. It’s not a new onset condition.
In my experience, it’s good to put a name on it. Not to be blind by the label but rather - like all health conditions, to find ways, means and methods to understand your triggers, to manage your symptoms, to ask for help when needed and maximise your quality of life.
This is ‘good’ news, if that makes sense.0 -
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Calypso Realm wrote: »All the same, there is no harm in getting a second opinion OP. After all this diagnosis was made by a general practitioner and not a specialist ie a psychiatrist, who as far as I'm aware is the only professional who is sufficiently qualified to make a (somewhat serious) diagnosis like this.
While he may well be right here, has your GP mentioned anything about referring you to one OP, since this would be a necessity for treatment etc etc In fact, this would be might next step.
Good luck!
Hi,
It might not have come across well in my original post but I didn’t get my diagnosis from a GP - I went to my GP with complaints about my mental health and was referred further to a psychiatrist who then diagnosed me.
Sorry if that was unclear.0 -
sharinganexperience wrote: »Hi,
I have been diagnosed with bipolar too. I'm female. However I was not told if I'm bipolar 1 or 2. This was not explained to me
I was told I had Bi-polar II.
Bi-polar I seems to be the most severe form of the condition, almost non-functional.0 -
Are you sure you have it
Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts to mania or hypomania (less extreme than mania), you may feel euphoric, full of energy or unusually irritable.
Yes, I am sure I have it.
I was diagnosed by a professional psychiatrist.0 -
BP II Survivor wrote: ». It is perfectly possible to live a normal and fulfilling life, working and enjoying relationships, hobbies and interests without the spectre of the black hole and emptiness opening up to swallow you. Take the meds! They are not tranquillisers, I still feel happy, sad, angry etc but within a healthy spectrum./QUOTE]
Yes exactly. I had a long-term neighbour, who I would never in a million years have guessed was bi-polar until one day when she started to act completely 'out of character', suddenly becoming paranoid and coming out with rather strange /theories' about things. That's the only way I could describe her behaviour at that time. Later I found out this was because she had suddenly stopped taking her meds! On this occasion she was hospitalised/ Only for this episode I'd never have, in all probability have known she had this condition. At least in terms of the amount of interaction I had with her.0 -
OP I was diagnosed as having Bipolar II around the same age as you. I was also very surprised and not expecting it.
I sometimes think if a few specific events hadn't happened at the same time, I'd have gone undiagnosed for possibly much longer. I also think that quite a lot of people who think they "just" suffer from depression possibly have BP2.
It's isn't necessarily awfully serious and can be managed very well, but it's great you've been diagnosed because I feel I wasted a few years thinking I just had bouts of depression, but some meds for that can actually make BP2 worse, and I needed a good psychiatrist, with much more specific expertise than several GPs, counsellors etc. who were very kind but didn't seem to consider BP.
It was only at that age did I learn a parent of mine also has it, which came as a big shock too. For a few years when I was very young, my parents fought and argued a lot, and I now know the mood disorder was coming to a head and needed to be addressed. Luckily it was, and I literally had no idea growing up. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing they never told me, but it was so well managed that I honestly don't think they felt any need to. I did know they struggled at times feeling a bit low but they never needed to miss work, never actually seemed in bad form etc.
For myself, it took me quite a few years to accept that I really should just take medication consistently. I never intentionally came off it or decided to stop, but I was a bit careless and inconsistent and would realise I hadn't taken it in days or weeks and sure all was fine so I obviously don't need it?!
Now I never experienced "highs" in the typical sense, but eventually I noticed that when I did come off medication, I would eventually either get very low, or have what I think is called a dysphoric high, kind of agitation, feeling really wound up, unable to sleep or relax. Or things would be fine for ages but my job can be stressful at certain times, and I'd find those hard to manage.
I actually think I could cope without medication, and hide it at work etc. BUT it's better to just prevent it and keep it at bay. I had an excellent psychiatrist who treaded very carefully, I ended up trying out quite a few meds and honestly none had bad side affects, probably because he was so cautious and slow, but that did mean it took quite a while to get one that helped longer term. He explained that coming off it a bit erratically would eventually lower the medication's effectiveness. I finally accepted it and it really just became a habit. I also had to be more careful taking the contraceptive pill, because the medication I'm on is not suitable for becoming pregnant. That became an issue this year as my partner and I would like to have children. I don't know are you female, but it's certainly something I was quite concerned about. Luckily I've properly/gradually come off it without any issues so far.
It's very early days though so we haven't started trying yet.
If I had any specific advice, it would be to get health insurance if you can afford it. Local public services seemed pretty awful here, so I ended up travelling quite a distance to access private treatment and it seemed a real pain for a while but it was so worth it. Before long I only had to go twice a year for a short check up.
Also, the usual things that everyone should be doing can make a big difference, like exercise, keeping a sleep routine etc. I used to have huge issues with sleep but they've changed and improved a lot over time. Actually just living with my partner has helped a bit I think, I piggy back on his healthier habits!
Also, Aware have some videos on YouTube that I found very helpful in the past. Dr Patrick McKeon gave some lectures (many are very similar, part of an annual series) explaining all the types&aspects of bipolar.
Good luck OP and don't worry, nothing will change drastically but you'll likely find it to be a positive thing that you've been diagnosed and will hopefully be given support and guidance.0
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