Bipolar? ADD?

Question

I've been dealing with some emotional issues for years now and finally decided to see a therapist. My main concerns were depression and issues with concentration/productivity, but the therapist believes I'm bipolar. It will take me a while to get to a psychiatrist for a diagnoses so I saw my physician about getting back on meds in the meantime. I showed him one of my ADD tests (without mentioning any bipolar theories) and he too, thinks this may be BD.
I know I have depression and extreme anger management issues, but I don't have mania. I have "high" moods where I feel great for no reason, impulsively spend money, overeat, drink too much, and have excessive energy. HOWEVER, the highs don't last long, I can't go without sleep, and I never experience increased productivity.
I'd be okay with a bipolar diagnoses because it means a reason behind the way I've been feeling/acting for the past ten years (I'm 21) and maybe finding solutions, but bipolar just doesn't fit! Thoughts?

Answer 1

It sounds alot like bipolar disorder. Doing things to excess is a decription of mania, even if you don't lose sleep.

Bipolar is similar to ADD, in the way that both have mood swings, but in the case of ADD, the mood swings don't last long at all. Bipolar people are also extremely manipulative sometimes, especially since their moods are a chemical imbalance, and they have trouble dealing with it. People with ADD are not usually as manipulative, since they can't stay on one thing long enough. The manipulation is part of the depression.

ADD and bipolar disorder are both misdiagnosed alot. Most people see the depression of bipolar, and only treat the depression, which usually doesn't help at all. I believe ADD is used as an excuse for bad parenting alot, but I know people personally that definatly have ADD.

I'm glad you might've found a reason behind your actions, I hope you get good help.

Answer 2

You do have mania....some people's mania can last two days, others two months, etc. I had trouble with being misdiagnosed, but it is much better now that I have a correct diagnosis and went through all the tests. Bipolar disorder seems to fit what you have written here.
You may only have one symptom on a list or something, but that doesn't mean you don't have enough to have the disorder. Your "high moods" do count as mania, even without increased productivity (it would be a nice side effect sometimes though!)...
ADD and BD are often confused for each other, and everything you said here sounds like BD. Good luck.

Answer 3

Hey honey join the climbing number of us Bipolars we r becoming numerous but don't panic!!! Help is on the way. I am Bipolar also and sounds like you r having the mania and then you hit the lows (the depression) I cycle so fast that you wouldn't believe it. One minute i am high two minutes later i hit the lows. Sorry honey i am 46 and have been dealing with this crap since i was about 16. My parents didn't believe in Psychiatry so I had to self diagnose myself with OCD when i was 16, I knew I had it but no one believed in this stuff 30 years ago. I finally saw a shrink when i was about 30 and I was right I have OCD along with the BPD so don't feel bad. Just stay on your meds and don't forget to take them because they are what makes you well. You stop taking them and you get sick all over again so don't forget to take them. I know its a pain in the a** but it beats not being productive at all. I hope i helped a little.

Answer 4

I worked as a R.N. on a psych unit in a hospital for 22 years. I can't say if you are Bipolar or not but you could be. There are a lot of variations in the disorder. .

No, you don't need to get opinions from 2 or 3 psychiatrists before you get treated. Your therapist thinks you are Bipolar and your doctor thinks so. If your M.D. is willing to prescribe medications why not start on them in order to start getting help sooner. Your psychiatrist can change or adjust if he/she thinks that is best.

Scotty is very off base. His views would be laughable to any one who is a health professional and actually works in a hospital with people who have this disorder, if he didn't cause so much harm to people. People like him who go around quoting other people who don't know what they are talking about cause people to delay
treatment and possibly not get treated for a serious condition.

Answer 5

It sounds to me like you have bipolar just because your highs are not majorly high they don't have to be. I have bipolar and my symptoms are very similar. As for good old Scotty he needs to get a grip - he obviously hasn't had the need for a psychiatrist - my psychiatrist is brilliant and has done me the power of good hope this helps

Answer 6

getting the correct diagnosis is not always easy remember dr also make mistakes and be being treated for the wrong condition is aggravating to say the least. i'd be weary of a diagnosis of bi-polar if you are not cycling between bouts of depression AND mania. YOU SHOULD GET SEVERAL INDEPENDENT DIAGNOSIS BEFORE YOU AGREE TO BE TREATED. if you are deemed to have add ask your dr about the drug STRATTERA . i have gotten tremendous results at a dosage of 40mg x2 daily 7am & 1pm. good luck

Answer 7

Bipolar and ADD are merely labels for a set of psycho-social behaviors that psychiatry finds unacceptable.

Bipolar and ADD diagnoses are based on psychiatry's widely discredited DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for the Diagnosis of Mental Illness.) The DSM's criteria are vague and ill defined and have their origin in psychiatrists convention where they simply vote new diseases into existence. ("All in favor say aye" -- and you've got yourself a new disease) It is based on a brain disease model which cannot be proven by any sort of medical tests -- like an x-ray or blood test.

The lack of science behind the DSM gives a clear idea of why it has earned such critics as the following:

Herb Kutchins of California State University, Sacramento, and Stuart A. Kirk of the University of California, Los Angeles, authors of Making Us Crazy: The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders:

“The developers of DSM assume that if a group of psychiatrists agree on a list of atypical [new] behaviors, the behaviors constitute a valid mental disorder. Using this approach, creating mental disorders can become a parlor game in which clusters of all kinds of behaviors (i.e. syndromes) can be added to the manual.”

Psychiatrists claim that a person “needs” a drug to combat their “chemical imbalance” in the brain which is causing a person’s “mental disorder.” However, the concept that a brain-based, chemical imbalance underlies mental illness is false. While popularized by heavy public marketing, it is simply psychiatric wishful thinking. As with all of psychiatry’s disease models, it has been thoroughly discredited by researchers.

In 1996, psychiatrist David Kaiser said, “...modern psychiatry has yet to convincingly prove the genetic/biologic cause of any single mental illness...Patients [have] been diagnosed with ‘chemical imbalances’ despite the fact that no test exists to support such a claim, and...there is no real conception of what a correct chemical balance would look like.”

I strongly recommend that you NOT see a psychiatrist for the problems you're experiencing, but instead see a competent medical doctor. A psychiatrist will quickly label you, will do know medical tests, and will prescribe drugs to remedy an unprovable "chemical imbalance." Psychiatric drugs oftentimes mask very real medical problems.

Here is what you should do: You should find a competent medical doctor at http://www.alternativementalhealth.com to find the underlying reason you're experiencing these emotions. Have them do a complete medical workup on you followed by an extensive panel of blood tests. (real doctors do tests, quacks do not) Your bipolar-like symptoms could be the result of a lack of certain amino acids, a vitamin deficiency, toxicity, low thyroid function or a hormonal imbalance. All of these possibilities can be tested for and treated successfully.

Answer 8

sounds like me and some of my family we are BD