Posted by med_empowered on October 30, 2005, at 23:03:15
In reply to Re: Bipolar unlikely, OCD and ADD very likely, posted by Phillipa on October 30, 2005, at 20:24:47
I think phillipa might be right. Modern psychiatry likes to divide human suffering into artificial categories, so we're taught that these problems "really mean" this and those problems "really mean" that but...I dont think its all that accurate. To me, it sounds like you're really, really stressed out. That may sound un-scientific, but keep in mind that high stress can lead to all kinds of problems, including psychosis (the risk of psychosis and schizophrenia goes up a good bit when someone loses his/her job...it can also lead to "reactive psychosis" in the otherwise mentally healthy). And, if you do have some sort of underlying disorder, stress will bring it out and make it a huge problem. An unusually large number of people with both Bipolar and schizophrenia, for instance, have survived various kinds of abuse; there's a theory that those kind of stressors can "activate" a genetic prediposition to mood disorders. Personally...I've been DX'd as various forms of bipolar, severe forms of depression and anxiety, and once got DX'd (inaccurately) as schizophrenic. I've dealt with psychotic episodes, and I can tell you: nothing--absolutely NOTHING--will make you crazier than stress, and the anxiety that results from it. So...since OCD is an anxiety disorder anyway, perhaps you should focus on taking care of your high-grade anxiety. Good lucK!
poster:med_empowered
thread:573377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051024/msgs/573637.html