cinephile Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 This is amazing. It's a thread on a student psychiatrist forum addressing an issue that I've known about for some time: that bipolar disorder is the new depression. That is, it's the diagnosis du jour and is WAYYY overdiagnosed. And it rings true in my experience too: I was recently suspected of being bipolar by two different doctors in a span of six months! And they barely knew me (one doctor who suspected I might be bipolar had literally known me for five minutes, and suspected I was bipolar because I was somewhat emotionally sluggish. I said that it didn't sound like bipolar, but he said I might be Bipolar II because that's not as severe and...and...). Boy am I glad I knew about the psychiatric swindle or I would no doubt be on a cocktail by now. It's just astonishing how easily this serious label is tossed around, and how quickly people (kids!) are dosed with heavy-duty antipsychotics that are, if anything, worse than SSRIs! Now that's saying something! Also amazing how even future psychiatrists are realizing how inept psychiatry can be. Some of the stories they have about psychiatrists they've observed or have been treated by are just eye-rolling. In particular, this quote below by one of the members really hit home for me, because almost exactly the same situation played out for me, except it was with Paxil, the antidepressant that started this whole SSRI misadventure 13 long years ago: Then, around the same number [of patients] tell me they were put on some medication for bipolar disorder, and never got any benefit for it, and were not even told the risks and benefits of the medication. Read on: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=837830 Been on SSRIs since 1998: 1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses 2005-present: Lexapro. 2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year). **PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT! APA=FUBAR FDA=SNAFU NIMH=LMFAO Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month: STARTING: 15 mg 11/7/10: 13.5 mg 12/7/10: 12.2 mg 1/6/11: 10.9 mg 2/3/11: 9.8 mg 3/3/11: 8.8 mg 4/1/11: 7.8 mg 4/29/11: 7 mg 5/27/11: 6.4 mg 6/24/11: 5.7 mg 7/22/11: 5 mg 8/18/11: 4.5 mg 9/14/11: 4 mg 10/13/11: 3.6 mg 11/9/11: 3.2 mg 12/7/11: 2.6 mg 1/3/12: 2.1 mg 2/2/12: 1.8 mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compsports Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 This is amazing. It's a thread on a student psychiatrist forum addressing an issue that I've known about for some time: that bipolar disorder is the new depression. That is, it's the diagnosis du jour and is WAYYY overdiagnosed. And it rings true in my experience too: I was recently suspected of being bipolar by two different doctors in a span of six months! And they barely knew me (one doctor who suspected I might be bipolar had literally known me for five minutes, and suspected I was bipolar because I was somewhat emotionally sluggish. I said that it didn't sound like bipolar, but he said I might be Bipolar II because that's not as severe and...and...). Boy am I glad I knew about the psychiatric swindle or I would no doubt be on a cocktail by now. It's just astonishing how easily this serious label is tossed around, and how quickly people (kids!) are dosed with heavy-duty antipsychotics that are, if anything, worse than SSRIs! Now that's saying something! Also amazing how even future psychiatrists are realizing how inept psychiatry can be. Some of the stories they have about psychiatrists they've observed or have been treated by are just eye-rolling. In particular, this quote below by one of the members really hit home for me, because almost exactly the same situation played out for me, except it was with Paxil, the antidepressant that started this whole SSRI misadventure 13 long years ago: Then, around the same number [of patients] tell me they were put on some medication for bipolar disorder, and never got any benefit for it, and were not even told the risks and benefits of the medication. Read on: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=837830 Cine, I will definitely go to the link you provided which I thank you for. I have criticized my former psychiatrist for many things but he actually saved me from the bipolar dx when I stupidly thought that might be the reason I wasn't responding to ADs and having adverse reactions to them. One day, I asked him if he thought I might be and he gave me that look that suggested I was way off base. I think about that alot as another psychiatrist would have had me on heavy duty cocktails that probably would have destroyed my life. I am sorry you dealt with idiots who wanted to falsely diagnose you as having bipolar disorder Comp Sports Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010 Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006 Finished taper on June 10, 2010 Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016 Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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