Going To See The Psychiatrist.

[Thursday_]

Within the next week or so i will be seeing a psychiatrist.  Now that I'm actually going, and willing to get medicated, i wonder what all needs to be said.  I've been experiencing what i have for my entire life. It feels odd to just pick out certain things as not ordinary.  What i do know to mention is the depression, the mania, and anxiety.  Could anybody lists things that would be worth mentioning?  

On a side note, could anybody whose experienced Auditory Hallucinations an experience with it?

[HoneyNut]

Xila31 - I also experienced very similar auditory hallucinations, one of them would be a ringing phone, and the other would be my mom calling my name (even if she wasn't home, now that was distressing!).

Thursday_ - The Psychiatrist will have a set of questions to ask you, but also just describe what a regular week for you is like. Perhaps you hear things three times out of the seven days, have rapid ups and downs, feel more anxious on Fridays, etc.  Anything is going to help them better diagnose you.

Best of luck on your visit.

- HoneyNut

[Xila31]

Well, good job on going to a psychiatrist! It is good to get help finally. I was diagnosed last year but have had this for a long time.

I think keeping a mood tracker is good. Print it to take with you. That will give them some basic idea of how you're feeling currently. That's all I can add to what ILADVOCATE already says. (He always has good advice.)

But, I also experienced Auditory Hallucinations. Mine were weird. I didn't hear voices, I heard a ringing phone. I know that seems strange. People always look at me funny when I tell them. But this was no ordinary phone. It would ring in another room from where I was. I would race to answer the phone, but the real phone wasn't ringing. This would last for hours, and I would race back and forth to get the phone. Other people in the house with me, such as my dad, could not hear this phone ringing. It was distressing to the point that I would cry and panic.

So, everyone's halucinations are different, indeed.

[ILADVOCATE]

Best to explain anything that affects your life, relating to people and understanding things. You don't neccessary have to list things. They may have a list of questions that they would ask or see what they would ask by how you answer questions. That's what doctors as a whole generally do. As regarding auditory hallucinations I experienced them before my current recovery and they being that my psych. disability was schizoaffective disorder were the standard two or more voices commenting on each other but sometimes could be music or when I was paranoid misperceiving sounds such as before I started medication at all thinking a dog barking from a car was a person screaming at me. Then again everyone's specific auditory hallucinations are different and schizoaffective disorder is different from bipolar with psychotic features. Its a complex issue but best to just explain your life in general to the psychiatrist and they will be able to determine what's going on, make a specific diagnosis, determine what medication options are and you can ask them more from there.