Posted by JahL on March 4, 2001, at 10:34:54
In reply to Re: A BIPOLAR (II) EXPERT *PLEASE* (longish), posted by kate9999 on March 4, 2001, at 3:54:03
> >Does the diagnosis really matter? The more relevant question is - can you benefit from a mood stabilizer? It sounds like it's very worth a shot. A strong family history of bipolar disorder alone would suggest that.
I'm not interested in a dx for its own sake; personally I couldn't give a toss what my condition is called so long as it ceases to affect me. I am not seeking advice for the purposes of treatment; that is well in hand.
My interest in receiving a correct dx is for the purpose of explaining to any prospective university board or employer, my relative inactivity over the past 9 years. A dx of Dysthymia (ie *mild* depression) does not explain why I've never held down a job, or why I dropped out of college/university 5yrs out of 7 (!). A dx of Bipolar, an altogether more serious disorder, & more likely to explain the levels of dysfunction I suffer from, does.
A dx of Bipolar also vindicates my feeling that I have been comprehensively mistreated; you don't continue to feed someone ADs 4 3 yrs if their first AD induces clear rapid cycling/hypomania, and you certainly don't *insist* on irrelevant psychotherapy which winds up costing the patient $10,000 (!?!).
If I can prove my case, my GP will be obliged to set out the details of the misdiagnosis & subsequent mistreatment (which has sent me spiralling into a suicidal/incapacitating depression), *all* of which was against my better judgement @ the time (& I stated so). This would put my (excuse 4 a) CV in a better light....
Jah.
poster:JahL
thread:55442
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010302/msgs/55525.html