Anxiety to Depression to Bipolar to ASD

[ohhmyyy]

Hi All,

Suffered from anxiety and depression for a good decade since about 18. Comes in waves which last days and weeks but looking back feel like years (some years seem bleak and some years seem so happy). Because it came and went I didn't do much about it until EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE WAS FINE and then the panic hit me and I started seeing a psychologist.

Two years later of the continuing up and down I was diagnosed with Bipolar II and put on lithium. Fast forward six months we changed to a different medication as lithium made me gain weight and dulled me. Fast forward twelve months I moved and a different psychologist said it's not bipolar its BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder).

I immediately went and saw someone else as a diagnosis like that within 10 minutes of meeting me I felt was laughable and coming off the medication is a significant process. Saw a man who I felt for the first just got it and understood exactly what I was saying, hower the diagnosis was ASD and the treatment is stimulants.

So currently as an anxiety sufferer, I am on 2000% in both productivity and anxiety.

Has anyone else had problems with their diagnosis? How do you trust your psych? Do you just suck it up and stick with it? Or do you stop?

[Lici]

Hi ohmy,

Welcome to the forums, it's a great non judgmental place here full of kind supportive people.

I haven't had the same mental health issues as you, but I too have had psychologists diagnose me with different things at different stages etc. I know it can feel frustrating and confusing. I think we wear our labels so to speak and having another added can feel like a threat to our identity almost.

I too have found it difficult to trust psychologists and gps etc before, but one thing I'm learning now that I'm a psychology student at uni is that many psychological disorders have overlapping symptoms. The diagnostic criteria for each disorder is very strict. However, unfortunately psychologists are human and can sometimes make mistakes. I find that a psychologist (or gp etc) who answers my questions about diagnoses and treatment in a direct manner and is willing to break things down and explain their rationale for giving me that diagnosis easier to trust. Have you had a conversation with yours in regards to how you're feeling?

I'm wondering if you've seen a psychiatrist at all? As a clinical psychologist can only diagnose and do behavioural treatments, but a psychiatrist has the medical background to be able to diagnose, prescribe medications and do behavioural treatments. I found that I had my best experience when it came to treatment and diagnosis with a psychiatrist. It's not that the clinical psychologists I saw were bad or anything, I think I just felt better knowing that a psychiatrist has a medical degree as well as a psychology degree.

In regards to just stopping, do you mean medications? If so, please don't discontinue without guidance of a gp. Suddenly stopping can be dangerous. If it's in regards to seeing the psychologist, then I think if you really don't think the person you're seeing is right for you, then possibly going to see someone else (even a gp who's mental health practitioner) to discuss your worries about your medication and diagnoses might be a good idea.

I hope you work things out either way! It's a horrible feeling to doubt your diagnosis and treatment etc. Please keep me updated on how things go for you.

Kind regards

Lici

[stroppytom]

I will probably get shot down for writing this but write it I will. There are psychiatrists out there who really should go back to being ordinary GPs. They give hasty diagnoses, they throw medications at you like confetti and often don't listen very well. I've met a couple like this. I am fortunate in now having a good psychiatrist but the talk (which is so important) is often limited and the main topic of discussion is how such and such a drug is working.

It's my observation that a lot of prescribing of drugs is guesswork and it is true to say that although drug experts can point to the action of certain components of depression medications they don't actually know the exact method in which they work.

Recently there have been developments in using TCMS and going back to using ECT. I've had TCMS and I can't say it did anything for me at all. I haven't had ECT but if I really go down into a black hole of depression and anxiety I would give it a shot because it is very controlled these days and nothing like the nightmare vision of how it was administered in the past.

To me it seems that something is broken in the minds of depressed people and those with acute anxiety issues. I reckon it could partially be genetic and inherited and it can also be brought on by particularly nasty incidents. A lot more work needs to be done regarding the chemistry of the brain and the actual mapping of the various functions of the brain. In a hundred years time I think doctors will look back on these times like we look back on surgeons of the 19th century...with sheer horror at how things were done.

Going back to your main questions...yes, I've had trouble with a couple of psychologists who were more interested in watching the clock than listening to one's woes. Fortunately I think doctors like this are few and far between in these days of high accountability. The trick is to find a doctor you think comes across as genuinely concerned for you as a person and a patient. Then you are on a good ticket.