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Re: Biploar VI (6)

Posted by sheer on March 26, 2005, at 9:40:05

In reply to Biploar VI (6), posted by katherpoo on March 25, 2005, at 16:53:02

this is a very interesting discussion! hope you all will permit me to be the resident unipolar/ casting my "counter" vote, just for the sake of "variety."

first off, thanx to maxine for clarifying that bipolar I is indeed NOT unipolar - of very basic importance, to be sure.

secondly, i'd like to see if anyone else senses, as i do, that bipolar of all kinds - but, perhaps, at ths point in time - particularly bipolar II, is NOW being over diagnosed....as if the pendulum has swung too far to the other side, as opposed to years ago and for decades, when it was underdiagnosed and/ or misdiagnosed?

here is my own experience: about 15 years ago, i was misdiagnosed as having - they had to get as extreme as possible right out of the gate - bipolar I and with rapid cycling. 9-10 yrs later, an adept and compassionnate female pdoc finally listened to me and said, eureka/ by george!... i believe you're right - you ONLY have unipolar.
(for decades prior, unipolar major depression had always been my diagnosis). around this same time, it was brought to my attention by another professional in our community, that the pdoc who had origianlly dxed me with bipolar, ONLY dxed bipolar, never unipolar, or, for that matter, anything else(!!!) he has since been run out of town "on a rail." but, here's how insideous this can be: once bipolar was on my record, 5-6 pdoc in 2 states thought it was the gospel & for nearly a decade. thus, i was treated with mood stabilizers that i never needed in the first place...enduring all manner of heinous side effects, both physical and mental.

now, let me back up here and state clearly: i did not, nor do i now, feel there should be any stigma attached to having bipolar (nor any other mental illness). that is a "luxury" afforded to the uninformed (being nice here) and to those who want to feel superior. being an artist, i actually thought having bipolar was "neat" (please forgive me that!) and perhaps to be expected/ only a matter of time. and, yes, having a high IQ is, as detective monk says, both a blessing and a curse. mine is 160.

another point i want to make is this: when i was thought to be bipolar, pdocs gave me ALOT more "attention." it was like their egos were VERY involved. i was a "challenge" to them, that they were determined to "rise to the occasion of." since, as a "lowly" unipolar, i have been much more on "my own", but the good news is i have HAD to learn a LOT about both.

thoughts? similar experinces? (i do often still feel too alone, in having had this happen)



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poster:sheer thread:475528
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