I'm really concerned I have bipolar disorder. My gp even laughed at me and just me antidepressants so that didn't help. I have been trying to distractive myself with creative outlets, I'm a jazz musician, a digital artist, I've even started coding, its rediculious. I'm getting worse, I hate to think what I'll be like in a few years from now.
I was hoping to find another avenue for help. Feeling pretty lost, I can't even talk to friends anymore.
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07917165403
Ask for a federal to a psychiatrist, they are the only ones who can make a diagnosis. We all do it, but self diagnosis is never a good idea.
Hi, Perhaps these one liners may help
The first thing is not to panic ...you are not alone.
You have the right to request a second opinion
You have the right to change your GP
You have already moved forward by recognising a possible problem
There are many levels/types of bi-polar
You may be at the lower scale
Whilst its not always reliable to self diagnose ... search for for bi-polar self test questionaires or screens ( there are many to choose from) then do three different ones over a period of say a week ... keep, save and print the results. In the interim start seeking help through your new contact ...ie new refferal , GP or indeed via websites (MIND) or forums.
In the interim, check the effects/side effects of the medication you are taking via websites ( Google etc) ...this will allow you to consider if any of the feelings, thoughts emotions could come from these?
Keep a journal of how you feel day by day .... I draw a line as being normal and guage up and below the line as being high/ low plus comments ... it gives you the opportunity to look back and see whats going on.
Rest is important, easy to say , hard to do ... try to avoid drugs to sleep .. use horlicks believe it or not , two tablespoons with hot milk and one sugar , this helped me
Keep busy during the day ... this acts as a distraction, and helps you feel better within.
Do things you enjoy .... its important not to get to stressed, or over-tired .
Write down all your thoughts as a journal ( especially at night) then look at them in the day. Many of the things you will find does not make sense and you will psychologically drop some of these by seeing these in the cold light of day
Continue to seek help, the process is often slow, and you need to realise that this will take time and is not fixed overnight so be patient.
When you do find balance, look to find at why you have the balance ? now be aware what trigger causes the drop or high? not easy, but part of the process of healing and understanding.
Finally, when you do find help and possible new medication, check what you are being prescribed and whether its long/short term . also check side effects AND you want short lead times to further appointments to monitor progress together. from the above you will start to guage greater acceptance , understanding, but also control of how and where you are going with this ( quite important, dont be led down a blind alley, you are feeling unwell yes, but keep your eyes and wits open)
Thw friends thing is always an issue, if you find or miss the friends scene then because you feel/act different then its even harder... you will probably benefit from meeting people with the smae problem... you can find these through websites ie bi-polar support and forums ...start asking now to find locakl support .
For me, I prefer not to use the latter as I find people are often the trigger , ie not honest, trustworthy, reliable, two-faced etc ... thats me and it suits me to keep away ...Its not an ideal situation granted, but for the moment is better to have no triggers , than keep getting hit by them . No doubt I need to work on this for sure , but hey .....I have got this far , so havent done bad from being just a complete wreck...
trust these points help
lastly dont worry/ panic you/we are many nd you are not alone ...keep up and enjoy your creativity ...if you have bi-polar this is a common trait ...enjoy the creativity, embrace it .
In the uk psychiatrists are not quite as open to different levels of bipolar. A psychiatrist has told me they look for the classic symptoms - which included a psychotic episode. If you don't fit this, then you'll be diagnosed more likely with anything other than bipolar. Experience has shown this is how UK psychiatrists deal with bipolar.
I would say NOT to do online tests. All this does is convince us that we may suffer from something that we do not . with bipolar especially - this is a very complex condition to diagnose, and is far beyond the reach of a simple questionnaire
I'm getting so much worse. I can't take this anymore. Seeing doc in the morning. Having a bad day. Got too happy yesterday.