How do I have this discussion about my other half

[study_my_life_away]

Thank you to the many readers...

So I am in a unique position, I myself have diagnosed ADHD (mild) depression, anxiety and chronic pain all managed by various medications

As an adult ADHD diagnosed person, and being on medication, which has helped rather dramatically!

I am starting to think my other half may have bipolar or even ADHD

I have received information that it’s best if I go to my GP first without my other half to have the discussion

I am nervous about having this discussion as I am unsure if I will be taken seriously or not

when I had suspected I had ADHD the GP asked why I might think I have it

I am unsure if this will be the case if I go and ask about it with my GP?!

there are days/times when I think my husband has learnt from my undiagnosed ADHD in terms of daily chores and habits

daily chores for myself... yeah right I’d be lucky if I remembered to actually clean the dishes and put them away

I am aware that ADHD and bipolar do experience some similar symptoms

my other half is on antidepressants but doesn’t take them consistently goes on and off them

mind you if tried the same thing I would get a shocking “missed dose/withdrawals” I get moderate to severe ‘brain zaps’

any feedback about what I need to provide to the GP or relent information would be of help

my other question I have is - in the chance that my other half is diagnosed as having bipolar, how does bipolar response to treatment?!

as in would the symptoms go away completely or only partly?!

[mocha delight]

Hi study my life away I don’t know much about bipolar nor adhd but I think if you did go to the gp about your other half having one or both I would imagine if you kept a diary of dates/time/symptoms/signs ect ect ect of both on a daily basis for say a month so you got a good record of things and anything else like that you might want to add to show your gp down the road you should have enough evidence to support that what you think your other half has would be helpful if it’s all written down & recorded by you of the strong evidence as back up to what you’ve said. As I said I’m no expert but this may help if you go ahead with talking about this to your gp.

[mocha delight]

I also forgot to say I’ve not been officially diagnosed with anything yet but my psychologist has mentioned to me casually that I have depression (clinical depression), social anxiety and general anxiety and I did basically kind of the same thing when I made an appointment to talk to my gp pre antidepressants & pre psychologist about my issues so I found that helped for me in my situation.

[Croix]

Dear Study my life away~

Welcome here to the Forum, you are in a puzzling situation and I'd expect coming here will help.

Before I say anything else I'd like to say I'm very glad your meds are effective, it makes a huge difference to a person's life.

In ordinary life one can see things in others that can be similar to ourselves, forgetfulness in another mirrors mine would be one (rather poor) example.

The problem is to know to what degree this is to be expected and to what degree an indication of a mental health condition. I'm not sure that one can make a diagnosis by oneself. As you you plan, more a case of getting a professional involved.

As your other half is taking ADs I'd think there is a chance he may have a preliminary diagnosis already.

My suggestion is to write down all the things your better half does that you feel may be significant, not trying to draw parallels with your own situation, but just trying to give a comprehensive view. Share this with your GP in an extended consultation and take it from there.

As to any possible diagnosis, such as bipolar, that may be jumping the gun a bit. As an aside this is a treatable condition as you will find by reading Beyond Blue's information here

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/bipolar-disorder

I hope this helps

Croix

[geoff]

Hello Study my life away, and a warm welcome to the forum.

I'm not a qualified doctor but what I say has been from experience, however, if your husband is taking his AD's spasmodically then he won't be achieving the best result from them and secondly, you can, by all means, discuss the problems you have as well as your husband, but the doctor won't make any diagnosis of what he is suffering from, it's possible they may suggest, but they need to see him themselves to make a final determination and certainly won't prescribe any medication for your husband without talking to him.

Best wishes.

Geoff.