Posted by polarbear206 on March 12, 2007, at 10:57:47
In reply to racing/ out of control thoughts, posted by Ines on March 11, 2007, at 15:36:42
> Hello!
> Has anyone had experience of racing thoughts in unipolar depression? I frequently go into a complete brain overdrive, thoughts are racing through my head really quickly and often I can't even complete one thought before jumping to another. I become unable to concentrate on anything. Sometimes it makes me feel like screaming, or I will 'scream inside my head' (don't quite know how else to explain that).
Sometimes it is too much to bear and I feel the need to do something repetitive like banging my head against the wall- I don't do it but just imagining myself doing that can help. I also get really strange reactions when I am doing anything that involves blades- for example I start seeing my fingers mixed up in the food processor if I'm blending a smoothie, or see myself slashing my face if I am shaving; the image comes to my head and it just goes round and round and I cannot control it- this happens even when I am going through a good patch as far as the depression goes and has no association with feeling suicidal. I have been mildly depressed most of my adult life, with two episodes of clinical depression, but no mania whatsoever- I never feel unusually energetic or happy, although I can experience very brief periods of elation (literally a few seconds), usually followed by a drop in mood. Currently I'm taking Reboxetine and all of these symptoms seem to be increasing in fequency, along with agitation- although my mood is better. There has never been a suggestion of bipolar diagnosis by any doctor. Can anyone relate to this?
> Thanks! Ines
Inez,You most likely have an underlying bipolar spectrum disorder. You don't have to have full blown mania or even hypomania to have a bipolar diagnosis. There are many subtypes that cross over with unipolar depression. It can present as agitation, anger, obsessive thoughts,etc... A red flag is antidepressant induced symptoms as you are experiencing. Are you seeing a p-doc or a family doc? For proper diagnosis you need to see a good psychiatrist who specializes in mood disorders. I can direct you to some informative web sites to help you sort things out.
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/02_diagnosis.html#Anchor-Can-27506
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.lieber.html
http://www.mcmanweb.com/index.htmlPolarbear
poster:polarbear206
thread:740179
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070308/msgs/740378.html