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Bipolar Maybe have bipolar disorder

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I have been battling my depression really bad for the past several months. My therapist said she would like for me to be tested for bipolar disorder. She explained to me that she believes the trauma I have experienced has caused this. First of all, I had no idea trauma could do that. I thought it was something you were born with. Secondly, I know absolutely nothing about this disorder and it makes me feel worse. Knowing I have PTSD was hard to accept but adding this to it hurts because it was all caused by trauma. I get to deal with this because people could not keep their hands off of me. I feel like they are the ones winning and I am a big fat LOOSER. I am just venting and I really hope I do not offend anyone. I cannot talk to anyone in my family about this or my "friends". I guess I need to do some reading before I go back on tuesday to find out more about this.
 
I'd appreciate input on this as well as I've always heard you cannot simultaneously have PTSD and bipolar, yet there are some on the forum with both, or supporters who have a loved one who have been diagnosed with both.

There is the usual bipolar with depressive lows and manic highs. Then there is another bipolar with mainly depressive lows. I'm moody as hell and people have thought I was bipolar but I never possess mania. Do you have manic episodes?
 
Are you struggling with you moods? (I am guessing this is why your therapist is suggesting bipola...
Yes, unfortunately so. I can go a few weeks of feeling good and I can function and then something happens and I just go into a funk that lasts for what seems to months. She said she has noticed changes from week to week. There are times I cannot tell her anything about my week because I am the queen of disassociating and just tend to get through the day.
 
Yes, unfortunately so. I can go a few weeks of feeling good and I can function and then somethi...

Be glad your being assessed in would say, many struggle to even get a professional to send for an assessment. From what you've said I wouldn't say bipolar sounds likely to be honest, but an assessment is still no bad thing
 
I've always heard you cannot simultaneously have PTSD and bipolar, yet there are some on the forum with both
Not true, I am bi-polar with a family history of bi-polar, and I have PTSD stemming form extreme abuse, however I will point out being manic eases the emotional effects of PTSD (I still suffer from ptsd but not as much), there are times where the PTSD symptoms were so intense I have stopped taking meds to being manic to feel a little better. Having PTSD with bi-polar depression tends to make thing worse, as one tends to focus on the abuse more negatively.

Keep in mind PTSD is not just hypervigilance, its disturbing memories of abuse or other trauma, and maladaptive cognitive distortions play a big part in all the behavior, and often get misinterpreted as other things by professionals that don't have an expertise in trauma exclusively. When I was at sheppard pratt Trauma Disorders Unit I only came away with 2 DX's, Bi-polar I and PTSD. When I made the point that in the past I had BPD as a DX the PDOC that besides the DX's she assigned that maybe anxiety disorder was possible. Many professionals go with the DSM while trauma PDOC go with what they know from experience of working with thousands of patients.

The point here, is I was assigned both PTSD and Bi-polar by a PDOC on a trauma specialty unit, if PTSD and BI-POLAR could not co-exist then why would a PDOC who is associated with a trauma unit, and who treats trauma exclusively with lots of patients to draw experience from assign a DX with both BI-polar and PTSD.
 
Bipolar requires hypomania at the very least. There are some docs who say that agitation is a form of hypomania but I’m not buying this unless there are other clear cut bipolar symptoms. (Hell, so many other disorders have agitation.)

Do you have hypomania/elevated mood (which is clearly above/beyond being happy and feeling good)?

Do your moods come and go for no reason?

I have CRAAAAAZY mood shifts, sometimes multiple times a day. My therapist told me it’s not bipolar because my mood changes are always due to external causes. I’m VERY sensitive to what’s going on around me.

Have you tried any mood stabilizers? I’m on an anticonvulsant and it works WONDERS for me. (Not all mood stabilizers are anticonvulsants. Different mood stabilizers work in different ways. And heck, my med isn’t technically a mood stabilizer as it hasn’t been approved as such, but it still works!)

Because of how my med works, and how much it’s made me feel normal, I think I will probably be on it for life. And I’m more than ok with that.
 
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