I'm a little bit nervous about starting this thread but since nobody knows here in real life, I'll ask it anyways. Has anyone been diagnosed with Bipolar II or Cyclothymia? I've always had mood swings but chalked it up to just that and hormones. It wasn't until a family member sat me down at Christmas break to talk about my behavior (she's been diagnosed with BP) and shared her suspicions. Looking back now, it all makes sense. What I think as a hypomanic phase/episode is honestly scary. I went through one in December (always energetic, rarely slept, working out like crazy, impulsive, engaged in some risky behavior (nothing illegal), weird ideas and goals, etc). My friends were honestly very worried about me. And then I will hit a wall or depressive phase for about 2 weeks and that's not fun either and go back to baseline. I kind of realized last night that I was in the tailspin of another hypomanic episode but nowhere near as bad as December but still not "normal behavior" or anywhere near normal for me. I've never had a "major" episode. I have noticed a pattern in that when I get migraines lasting longer than 2-3 days, its usually when I'm in a hypomanic episode. I do have an appointment with a counselor/psychologist at University on the next steps to take.
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I'm no expert by any means, but I'll add this: the longer we waited to find her treatment, the more she resisted and there were a lot more extremes. Meaning her highs were a lot higher and her lows were a lot lower as time passed. Which also made her harder to regulate on medication once we finally got her treatment.
I will say, the early onset of my moms disease does sound very similar to what's in your description.
It's good that you're talking to a psychologist about it, make sure you follow up with your family doctor as well. And try to let your family and friends know what you're going through as well, they will offer you support and encouragement even if you've somehow convinced yourself they won't.
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Best to get it out in the open and take steps to control it rather than letting it control you. When you talk about it, you're shocked to discover how many others will say they're in the same boat.
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One of my best friends of 12 years is Bipolar. I've seen it from the very beginning, before she was diagnosed, all the way up to present. Much of what you described in your post I recognized in her behaviour. Before she was diagnosed she was pretty bad. At one point I lived with her and she attempted suicide 2 times while I was home and both times I stopped her and got her medical attention. She has been institutionalised multiple times. It took a while for her to get the help she needed, but now she is on her medications and while she still has her ups and downs, she is much more stable and lives a normal life on her own.
It's important to accept your condition and not blame yourself. Like with my friend, it's not your fault chemical imbalances exist in the brain. But there are way to control it and to reduce the peaks and valleys. The fact that you recognize your behaviour and want to get better is a huge step. My friend was in denial for years and every year she just seemed to worsen. Getting the help she needed was a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. Keep getting the help you need and don't be afraid to say something if it's not working for you.
Theres literally Thousands of people in Calgary, with mental health issues big and small, that make themselves, and those around them suffer by not getting or acknowledging they need help. All of your relationships will benefit from your brave move.
I got help 2 years ago with a eating disorder that was ruining my life, socially and physically. It was the best decision of my life.
a person should not feel any different talking about this type of situation versus any oother mdical issue they may have.
A few years back I snapped at one of my sons hockey practices and broke my stick in my frustration with him, I then almost instantly went from mad to full blown crying - it felt like something inside of me broke that day. I went for some conselling and was on some meds for a while and it caused me to re-examine my relationship with him - over time i began to feel better and it helped that at the time i had some great support from people that knew me.
i still feel a little anxious everytime we go to the rink where it happened and of course i wonder if deep down i scarred my son, even though we have spoke at some length about what happened.
if you had a toothache, you would see a dentist and if you had a sore arm you would go see a doctor, so if you feel like something is not right mentally, there is no shame in reaching out for help
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Degree in psychology, not saying I can diagnose but I can give some helpful advice.
Sleeping patterns?
Diet?
Exercise?
Family history of mental illness?
Working conditions?
Medications?
Any extenuating overarching stresses?
See a behavioral psychologist is my advice. Try to avoid pharmaceuticals unless absolutely necessary as they are often hard to get off of and can cause neuroplastic changes in brain structure. Good luck my friend, take this seriously. It's not something to be ashamed of.
My guess is malfunctioning serotonin and or dopamine neurotransmitter regulation. Your brain overloads you with dopamine and serotonin then becomes depleted. I recommend mucuna to help during the lows (helps with neurotransmitter generation). Do you take drugs or drink a lot of caffeine/stimulants? Overexcess of stimulants can lead to bipolar like symptoms when neurotransmitters are depleted.
Best of luck... I have a good friend who suffered from Bipolar and/or Psychosis (ok I forgot the exact diagnoses). It was quite serious, he went through 2 psychotic episodes, and if he goes under a 3rd, there could apperently be permanent affects. He's being medically regulated, and he hasn't had a episode in about 7 years, and he's a normal, functioning member of society, holds down a normal office job, etc. He can't drink alcohol anymore (messes with his meds I guess?) but other then that, quite normal and almost like before all of this. What I guess I'm trying to say is, be open and seek help if you need it... you never know.
Here is a story I read randomly on the internet the other day, very sad but good read and very well written :
Good on you for looking to take care of yourself. It takes a lot of guts to talk about your personal state of mind and what is going on. It's extremely personal, and extremely difficult. Anyone who questions you or looks down on you for trying to take care of yourself doesn't understand. Do your best to remember that you are the one who matters.
I take the message of this video very much to heart.
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Thank you for the support. I ended up only telling a couple close friends and they weren't too surprised at the revelation. My mood swings have been pretty bad lately. Unfortunately I had a pretty crappy night at work, combined with the hypomanic phase I'm in right now, is not making for a fun night.
The good news is being bi polar, may seem strange but it's generally very treatable.
I'll disagree with ACGold, there's nothing wrong with pharmaceuticals for bi polarity, they're incredibly effective and certainly nothing to be resistant to in principle.
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The good news is being bi polar, may seem strange but it's generally very treatable.
I'll disagree with ACGold, there's nothing wrong with pharmaceuticals for bi polarity, they're incredibly effective and certainly nothing to be resistant to in principle.
Disagree with what? I said don't take them unless he needs to because it can have side effects, that's not based on principle. That's based on logic.
Degree in psychology, not saying I can diagnose but I can give some helpful advice.
Sleeping patterns?
Diet?
Exercise?
Family history of mental illness?
Working conditions?
Medications?
Any extenuating overarching stresses?
See a behavioral psychologist is my advice. Try to avoid pharmaceuticals unless absolutely necessary as they are often hard to get off of and can cause neuroplastic changes in brain structure. Good luck my friend, take this seriously. It's not something to be ashamed of.
My guess is malfunctioning serotonin and or dopamine neurotransmitter regulation. Your brain overloads you with dopamine and serotonin then becomes depleted. I recommend mucuna to help during the lows (helps with neurotransmitter generation). Do you take drugs or drink a lot of caffeine/stimulants? Overexcess of stimulants can lead to bipolar like symptoms when neurotransmitters are depleted.
So translation: I have a degree in studying the collective patterns of how years and years of rich white men have reacted to the collective patterns gathered from studying the reported experience of rich, white, North American, college students.. So in short... My advice *might be *limited...
Also... forget wanks on the internet or *psychologists*. Go speak to a Psychiatrist and take your suspected condition seriously. Don't mess around.
So yeah... TLDR:
NO: Psychologist...
YES: Psychiatrist.
Don't Piss around.
If you suspect you have a mental health issue, go to a (brain) doctor (psychiatrist). Don't piss around with a psychologist.
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Last edited by vanisleflamesfan; 01-24-2015 at 02:11 AM.
Disagree with what? I said don't take them unless he needs to because it can have side effects, that's not based on principle. That's based on logic.
Bi polar medication is well proven, lithium, which is nothing more than a naturally occurring mineral salt, has been around since the 40's, the side effects of most of them are pretty minimal, not life threatening, weight gain being the most common.
One of the most damaging attitudes for treatment of mental health disorders is suspicion of medication, I say this as someone who doesn't take any more meds than I have to.
Bi polar medication is well proven, lithium, which is nothing more than a naturally occurring mineral salt, has been around since the 40's, the side effects of most of them are pretty minimal, not life threatening, weight gain being the most common.
One of the most damaging attitudes for treatment of mental health disorders is suspicion of medication, I say this as someone who doesn't take any more meds than I have to.
Don't listen to any doctor who wants to give you Lithium because you get accustomed to it after around 9 or 10 months... We have developed far better drugs that Lithium (Although that is a really cool Nirvana song...). Get a doctor (Psychiatrist) who believes in the newer developments past frippin' Lithium...
For C* Sakes... this is not the 50s anymore... do not be taking frippin' Lithium...
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Last edited by vanisleflamesfan; 01-24-2015 at 02:27 AM.
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Mental Health Discussion
