Loss of credability now diagnosed

[hell1971]

Has anyone lost there credability since being diagnosed, I was only diagnosed last year after I became too stressed with getting my daughter help who has been diagnosed with a generalised anxiety disorder. Now we are back with them because my daughter is struggling again. I have found that I seemed to have lost my credability with them as I was manic last year and they were the first to tell me I needed help. My pdoc agreed that he feels that maybe I have lost my credability with them and I should try and get other people like my husband and other family members and perhaps the school to back me up. Even though I felt this, hearing it from someone else has made me feel ( not sure what I feel ) not good anyway. Has anyone else had this loss and how do you ensure that this doesnt influence proffessionals?

[Xila31]

Actually, I don't plan on telling many people unless I need to. After all, why should they know? But, I will tell you I am happy about my diagnosis because I have so many crazy moments and people always disregard me. Even my own father wouldn't help me when I needed it. Now I know I have this diagnosis and now I can say, "I have this and I need help," and maybe someone will actually care.

[cowgirlnerd]

ABSOLUTELY!!!  I have always been described as an extremely intelligent person and now that I am diagnosed BP1, I am suddently mentally retarded (no offense) with a need for people to make decisions for me.....

I keep it to myself when I can - it's easier for me to deal with.  I know we experience "paranoia" but I don't believe that the treatment I have received since dxs is paranoia.  

I still feel that my serious illness (pertussis) was not diagnosed October through January because they didn't take my complaints seriously and they thought I was exaggerating my symptons.  My husband had to intervene and insist on treatment for me more than once.

It's frustrating, but we have to strive to overcome the stigmas from mental illness.  When all else fails, just scream real loud.... :)

[Ally484]

I really believe that people judge you and start to look upon you differently when they find out about the bipolar, especially family members. It's almost as though they think you are a different person, not to be fully trusted or something.
I also refuse to tell my friends or employers unless it is absolutely necessary, and when I have told healthcare proffessionals recently, (I have just had a pregnancy) I have found that as soon as they find out I have bipolar they start talking to me as if I was simple, an instant judgement based on ignorance I think.
Good luck with yr daughter, sounds like a knightmare. I am always going to worry about passing this on to my children. I think my dad has got bipolar but is undiagnosed at 81, he has a previous family before me and I recently found out that my half sister has bipolar too.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

I don't feel like I lost any credibility after being diagnosed with what I was diagnosed with and both things are really stigmatized.  I feel like however that a lot of doctors have a bad habit of blaming everything that turns up wrong with you on the disorders they diagnosed you with but I haven't run into this yet either but I expect it as I'm still getting inducted into the psychiatric care system.

[hell1971]

been there done that, i asked her doc if we should be looking at tourettes thats when i knew he wasnt listning anymore, i think he thinks i research too much and i should leave the professionals to do it but she has had the motor one for over a year now consistantly everyday ( she presses herself ) then around 4 months ago she started the throat clearing, apparently this is a common tic in tourettes. She does this at least 2 per minute and when stressed it is even more prominent. I posted on the tourettes forum and I did get a response that it does sound like it but there is not much activity on that forum. What can I do, they just arnt listning to me anymore. Her therapist has obviously noticed her vocal tic and noticed how it had intensified recently, he has also said he beleives her hallucinations are real and not attention seeking, but they all focus in my opinion on her anxiety and not the bigger picture, she is a complex little thing.

[ILADVOCATE]

If she has tics perhaps they should think of Tourrette's Syndrome. That is often misdiagnosed. You could ask the psychiatist about that but sometimes a neurologist can better understand it. If you could be more descriptive of what the tics are like you might want to post a question about that in the neurology forum as well.

[hell1971]

I dont think im being monitored as such just that they are not taking me as seriously as they did before i was diagnosed. Last year I became obsessed that she had bipolar, I was posting on here asking for help as I beleived then that she fitted the profile, I had no idea and had not even heard of bipolar until then. The assesments we had to endure through child mental health were very distressing, I became more and more overwhelmed by my daughters sufferring, she sufferred a long 8 week depression and wanted to kill herself ( she was only 8 ). I couldnt cope anymore and went to my gp, he gave me an antidepressent and my mood flipped in four days to positively high after two weeks even I couldnt cope with what was happening and I came off them, this then sent me into full blown mania and then a mixed episode. When I was seeing her therapist they noticed my obvious reaction to the ad and suggested I get help fast, which I did. At this stage they signed my daughter off because things had settled and she was fine again. 5 months later things went down hill again with her so we tapped into child mental health, they seem to have ignored my diagnosis and my docs acknowledgement that they should take my diagnosis into account when assesing her again. Anyway stop waffling thats the story so far, when I have seen her doc he makes me feel like he takes anything I say with a pinch of salt. I dont want my daughter diagnosed with anything she doesnt have but I also want the right diagnosis and I now GAD isnt right something else is going on, she now has two tics one motor and one vocal, they say its anxiety but it just doesnt fit in my eyes.

[ILADVOCATE]

Honestly I don't know. That can be a problem. Before I recovered from schizoaffective disorder my mother was told by the psychiatrist I saw then (not the one I see now) to monitor to see that I took my medication and acted rational and stayed out of trouble and it basically was not a good idea. Now in knowing my mother has bipolar and is approaching treatment it was hard not to get into disagreements at first. But my current psychopharmocologist basically agrees we shouldn't comment on each other's disabilities and that's best although sometimes there is mutual support. I'd say in general families should help each other out but only a psychiatrist should diagnose specifics. But they can be supportive of you. Nami friend and family support groups are excellent for that. A diagnosis alone would and should not work against a person. Its what a person does when they get manic and the best thing to do is call your psychiatrist. Other people should not monitor your life.