Avatar Posted by nconolly 132 days ago (Question)
I am currently waiting for an initial assessment on my mental health. My GP thinks it might be Bipolar however I'm not so sure it is as simple as that. Although my symptoms match up I have found other areas in mental health that match my symptoms, mainly personality disorders. What worries me is the amount of disorders my symptoms match up to, nine in total. These are schizotypal, schizoid, borderline, avoidant, dependent, paranoid, histrionic, narcissistic and obsessive-compulsive. Is it really possible to have this many personality disorders as well as bipolar? It seems very extreme to me. All of my symptoms have been present my whole life but have recently started to get worse. I was adopted and and aware I did not have a great start and my psychological development needs were not met ie not being comforted, cleaned, fed properly etc... and i never had a healthy primary attachment, however I do not know all the details and I'm also have information that my birth mother and birth grandmother had some form of mental health problems although not specified. I have been waiting 7 months since I first saw my GP about my "depression" and am increasingly anxious about what is really wrong with me.


Answers

Written by bellacutie 132 days ago Rating: 1 | Rate Answer: + -

I assume you've been taking online tests for these disorders. Although sometimes these tests do prove correct, they aren't meant to diagnose people at all. You would need an in-depth psychological evaluation for that. Have you had this done yet? Also some people don't fit perfectly into one disorder or a person may have more than one. I suggest you don't worry about what you have and wait for the assessment to be done. Even after evaluations sometimes they are wrong and sometimes doctors make mistakes. Yes it's important to find a name for your feelings and behavior so you can be treated properly - but sometimes labels hold people back - meaning some feel like they're flawed and won't have the same opportunities in life. Labels sometimes hold people back. If you wonder what's wrong too much it may exascerbate your symptoms.

Try to relax and take care of yourself with eating healthy and regular exercise. Ask your doctor to scheduale a thorough psychological assessment for you. You should be seeing a psychologist or preferrably a psychiatrist in addition to your family doctor. Best of luck. Bella

Written by Edahn 132 days ago Rating: 1 | Rate Answer: + -

You probably wouldn't qualify for that many disorders if you've been diagnosing yourself. It's very common for people to think they're suffering from disorders because they find some evidence for them. A disorder is more than that and that's why you should get diagnosed by another, rather than yourself.

In my opinion, though, diagnoses are not that helpful at all. They are a way to symbolize and represent what's going on and that's it. They don't truly explain anything. In fact, I don't even really think they categorize people well at all. There are lots of therapists who don't use them and for good reasons: when people get diagnosed, they start to carry the label around with them and make it much more permanent than it actually is. They see it as a thing that has to be removed, but imagine that that extraction process is mystifying, long (if it will ever happen at all), and out of their control.

Nothing is farther from the truth. These thoughts and feelings don't have a label on themselves; people give them a label like depression or borderline or whatever. In your body and mind, they are just uncomfortable, painful feelings and thought patterns that arise in you from time to time. They are not permanent but temporary. And the "extraction process" is really more simple and straightforward than one would think. If you stay open to your experience and AVOID labeling and analyzing and just give yourself room to feel what it feels like and see what the thoughts look like, without getting too worried about their significance, you can start to heal your wounds. This is a practice of patience. It is what Buddhists call Mindfulness, what Tolle calls Presence, what most people call Listening.

You are going to get a diagnosis from your doctor soon, as you stated. Even with that diagnosis, you can still watch the thoughts and feelings that come up and practice listening to yourself without being too analytical. Peace and solutions will grow out of that care and attention.

Best of luck.

Written by nconolly 132 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

Thanks for the replies. I know it's very hard to imagine someone having that many proplems but I have looked over and over at these disorders and my family and boyfriend agree with the symptoms. These aren't passing things to me they surround my whole life. Like the inability to make simple conversation and therefore feeling rediculous, having no friends, not being able to love or have any form of stable relationship, unable to complete simple tasks etc... I used to enjoy the idea of being different but now I'm a young adult there could be nothing greater than just to be normal. To get on with day to day life and its problems and necessities. Without every single thing being such a conflict with my differing and contrasting symptoms. I'm fine if I stay at home just get lost in time and emotionl numbness but dealing with the "real world" causes stress, upset, paranoia, anxiety, anger etc. The "label" does not concern me, I just want my head sorted out so i can lead a normal life but the more I wait the worse my symptoms get and having the added stress of not actually knowing what the problem is doesn't help. However all I can do is wait as they are the procedures that everyone has to go through. Now I have completly lost the point of what I'm saying. I think basically I'm extremely annoyed and just wanted to shout about it. Thanks

Written by Edahn 132 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

In my opinion, we all have stuff that comes up in our lives that doesn't make us comfortable. For you, it sounds like you get tense when you're required to converse with people, and perhaps that leaves you feeling lonely. That tension, I imagine, is accompanied by catastrophic thoughts ("something bad is going to happen"), self-critical thoughts, feelings of fear, and most importantly, judgment and resistance of that entire experience.

The truth is, we all have annoying stuff that comes up in our minds and feelings. Your objective shouldn't be to ELIMINATE all of it. That is resistance and will leave you running from things and confused. Your objective should be to meet it. Watch it. Let it be there and let it leave. When you do that, all the difficult stuff isn't so bad anymore. It loses its power. As I said before, this is called Mindfulness and I encourage you to read about it and practice it.

Edahn

Written by Clyde 121 days ago Rating: 0 | Rate Answer: + -

There are lots of personality disorders that are similar to each other, in which a person may feel that he/she has more than one.

Usually after the nitty gritty is done, hopefully you find out you have none (or just one) personality disorder.

Trust me, I am a research psychologist doctoral candidate who trained to be a clinical psychologist. I read the DSM-IV a lot (which is the "bible" of mental disorders) and many personality disorders are so similar that they are pretty compatible with each other to a point.

Basically, what I am trying to say, and I am rambling, is that reading the personality disorders does not mean that you have all of them, or experiencing a bunch of their symptomology does not mean you have all of the disorders.

The doc will definitely check you out and let you know which one you have--hopefully none.

Best,

Clyde


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