There is sooooo much out there about mental health issues. It IS overwhelming. I have been struggling with PTSD, GAD, Multiple Personalities Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and NOW my Dr thinks Bipolar, which would mean I have about 5 disorders. ok.........? and in YOUR description you mention hear voices which IS one of the descriptions of Schitzophrenia. I am about at the edge. What is going on in the Field of Psyciatry. It seems as if EVERYONE is in the boat of multiple diagnosis, and there seems to be a pill or mountain of pills for each one. Everyone WANTS to get better but how can they be assured of what they actually have, many or a couple or one diagnosis and which pill is THE ONE that will be the one to help them achieve wellness. and THEN the mental health handbook keeps changing based on different sources of information or different Drs. How are WE who ARE mentally challenged supposed to KNOW, WHAT or WHO to believe or WHO is right, when it constantly changes. We who are mentally challenged are NEEDING consistency in our own mind mazes and choas without have someone in mental health field adding more confusion.
Hey, I have the alphabet soup diagnosis, too. I have bipolar, GAD, PTSD. PTSD is from the childhood trauma I received at the hands of two bipolar parents. The first two are organic diseases that affect one organ in your body, the brain, BUT that doesn't mean mentally challenged! No, we who have these diseases come in all ranges of intelligence; many of us are pretty smart!
When the author mentions hearing voices or seeing hallucinations, she refers to the symptoms of bipolar I. I also used to worry that I was schizophrenic.
I have trouble with mixed moods, too. The ONE pill that helps me is clonazepam. All the others I tried made me worse or tried to kill me.
Hang in there!
IMHO, it's good that they change the DSM. It means the doctors are studying and that they know more. But, hey, it's a tough field of medicine. No one goes to the nephrologist and says, but I like my urine this dark, I just wouldn't feel like me without this coffee-colored urine. Our doctors have a tough job.
Thank you Virginia W. Interesting, my moms name is Virginia
anyway, I appreciate your message. I only called it mentally challenged because mental illness is sort of harsh for some. I do however have brain damage so in a sense I am mentally challenged. I am not that intelligent either. My learning ability was comprimised significantly and on top of that I have alphabet soup if you will.
I do not know what your credentials are, meaning if you are a Dr. or NP, but I have to say that I disagree with your discription of the difference between a hypomanic and manic state. I don't think things can be wrapped up so easily, and I think a person who is suffering from multiple symptoms from the first set, which you classify as hypomanic- I think a person could be in a serious manic state withoiut having to be suffering additionally from any of the second set of symptoms. Everyone is different, everyone has a "normal," as I believe that no such state actually exists- but I am not a Dr. or NP., though none I have ever known can tell me what 'normal' is! Each of us has a normal state which is normal to ourselves alone. If my normal is medium/low and I reach a state of medium high that's a serioius change and needs to be adressed before damage is done. Personally I don't think it matters if y ou are manic or hypomanic. If your moods are cycling it is still a problem in your daily life. I believe that a lot of symptoms that people suffering from Bipolar are managed outside of a hospital setting when some years ago one might have been hospitalized, I believe this is because of Insurance company coverage of mental health and expensive co-pays to the patient. I know myself that I have to limit doctor visits as to what my insurance can cover plus how much of the co-pay I can aford. I couldn't imagine having to pay an inpatient hospital co-pay! Unreal! So I believe that only the most severe of cases "requires" hospitalization now. I don't think generalizations should be made about any mental heal issue- I think the best that doctors can say now is that your illness may be 'behaving' like Bipolar Disorder, but I think when you try to break them down into Bipolar I or II, try to take into account other illnesses a person might be suffering from... I don't see how any spcific diagnosis can be held up to the light and be correct for a person but many could, if that makes any sense. As a person strugling with many mental health issues for over 20 years I can say that no treatment I have ever received or am currently receiving has ever helped me more than 60% with my symptoms. I refuse to get drugged into non-existence so I make do. Everyone has their threshold. Good luck to everyone.
_/\_
well, i just had to add a comment.... my first. i have bipolar 1 & 2. just for background, i also have panic/anxiety disorder and ocd.
my meds do help me quite a bit. i have been correctly diagnosed for 4 yrs. now. i am mostly manic, with maybe 1 or 2 days of depression a year. i am also dealing with hypomania most of the time. i have learned how to live with it since i live with it so much. i describe to others the difference between mania and hypomania like, when i am manic, i am on the ceiling. when i am hypomanic i am in the attic. lol it works....
i am surprised at the comment in the article about when you are manic you are hospitalized. i thought that it would be a hypomanic state that would put someone in the hospital rather than mania. so i am confused..... and as far as someone wanting to define normal for us(those with mental illnesses); don't worry about being "normal" because normal is defined differently for each one of us or anyone for that matter. a friend used to tell me that normal is a setting on a hair dryer; not people. i like it. And yes, i sleep very little, about 2-3 hrs per night. Even with a med change i don't sleep much. and the other alternative is to give me meds that will make me feel like i have a drug hangover when i do wake the next day. and i do NOT like feeling that way, so i cope. i nap during the day, when i can. My point being is i live with my illness and try to flow with it day to day. Oh.... i Never have suidical thoughts either.
i hope this rambling of mine can help someone else.
I too have been Bipolar for 25+ years! For me Lithium has kept me stable for many years until I had more and more episodes of Hypomania and am in the midst of another one now! Mood Stabolizers work the best for me in combination with my Lithium. Currently I am on a drug holiday, with the docs agreement., staying on my Lithium though. 
I began to get unbearablely cranky, bitchy, and irritable and sarcastic I am so ugly my husband wants to just walk away and ignore me! I don't blame him, I know I am this way and I absolutely hate this side of me! and can do nothing to stop when I am this ugly! I have been ordered to take a Diazepam before any and all doc appts, labs etc! I don't blalme the doc here, it helps!
Moods fluxuating you bet ya', my 'team' husband and friends tell me, Pharmacists and fellow Bipolar friends and what I feel myself I know I need more help! Right now I am feeling this way 
! My moods are up and down now!
Nurz
I too have been Bipolar for 25+ years! For me Lithium has kept me stable for many years until I had more and more episodes of Hypomania and am in the midst of another one now! Mood Stabolizers work the best for me in combination with my Lithium. Currently I am on a drug holiday, with the docs agreement., staying on my Lithium though.
I began to get unbearablely cranky, bitchy, and irritable and sarcastic I am so ugly my husband wants to just walk away and ignore me! I don't blame him, I know I am this way and I absolutely hate this side of me! and can do nothing to stop when I am this ugly! I have been ordered to take a Diazepam before any and all doc appts, labs etc! I don't blalme the doc here, it helps!
Moods fluxuating you bet ya', my 'team' husband and friends tell me, Pharmacists and fellow Bipolar friends and what I feel myself I know I need more help! Right now I am feeling this way ! My moods are up and down now!
Nurz
Okay... let's see... When manic I have everything EXCEPT increased sexuality. I do not have a "seriously elevated" mood... it generally is "seriously irritable mood". My manias are never "happy and euphoric".
AND well... I have many many HIGH MIXED Manic Episodes where I have these symptoms (except euphoria and hypersexuality) and the severe suicidal impulsivity. You know... energy and drive to kill myself and the strong desire to actually do it combined while the mind shatters cause both ends of the spectrum are going at the same time.
I "see things" that aren't really there and I know they aren't really there BUT it does not take away from the fact that I STILL SEE THEM and become "unsettled" by them. I also hear radios playing when there aren't any and occasionally little blips and blurts of sounds or voices... but, I know they aren't real... does not take away from the fact I STILL HEAR THEM. So, though they are psychotic they are deemed psychotic disturbances not full on psychosis.
I have more prolonged severe suicidal depressions, as I'm in now. My manic is very short lived - averages about 4-5 weeks in length. They start out in the hypomanic realm but can quickly become manic if not managed and/or triggered by some outside external stressor pushing it.
I've floated, diagnostically since 2006 as Bipolar I Mixed, Bipolar II Mixed, Bipolar I with Psychotic Features, Bipolar II with Psychotic Features (cause you forget... suicidal depressions can have psychosis also).... but, the overwhelming majority and what has stuck thus far the longest.... just good old plain Bipolar I.
Course, I'm going by what the docs have told me were my diagnoses.
Also, did not hurt that I had another major crack up years before on record... so I've had 2 High Flying Mixed Manias documented under my belt. This gives me the I rating.
This is my thing... Bipolar I or Bipolar II... you have Bipolar. You are seriously ill with a disorder that can be managed medically and with proper therapy. Management does not mean cured, it means what it says "managed". Some days you are doing well and some days you are not.
Any of the symptoms of hypomania can cause significant daily dysfunctioning in some capacity or another to some individual. Like all psychiatry, it is all highly speculative and relative to the individual struggling.
The ratings are for insurance purposes and disability purposes... cause even the meds are prescribed for one or the other and many other medical disorders as well.
Bipolar, of any color or size, is Bipolar and it's very very serious and with proper tools.. and the willingness to make the concerted and tireless effort... can be managed to some degree with medical intervention and a whole lot of therapy... and with a supportive nurturing network surrounding.
For me, the problem with the meds is that they make me physically ill. It's not a matter of missing the elevated feelings of mania. Like Tabby, I don't have those anymore. I used to, but now the mania is all rage, testiness, risk-taking behavior, but no joy. I would gladly take a medicine that would prevent these awful attacks and leave the rest of me intact.
The meds prevent me from exercising and eating well. One example is Lithium, the safest, most effective, longest used, etc. I spent three years lying on the couch, and I became as stupid as a stick from Lithium. I could not pursue my career. I became incapacitated. It didn't stop the manic rages, just slowed them down. I couldn't eat because I had such a horrible taste in my mouth. If I tried to exercise, I would trip and hurt myself.
I agree with your article except for the question of why people stop taking meds. If the meds are not making us fat, then they give us GI trouble, destroy the liver and/or kidneys, maybe the heart. The real reason people stop taking meds is that the meds make them feel worse than the disease. Sometimes I think the meds are for the sake of society, not to make us feel better.
For the record, I take an anti-anxiety medication that helps me sleep and contain the mania. Further, I have not gone off a medication for bipolar disorder except by doctor's orders. Twice, my life was acutely at risk. But always, these meds chronically threaten our well-being.
My father in law says that he stops taking his meds because they make him go too low. He does not manage his disorder well. Right now he drinks, he is loud and obnoxious, he purchased a brand new camaro under his and some stranger's name, hypersexuality, and everything else that goes with be manic. This post makes me understand why he may not want to take his meds. It would be better if he made regular trips to his doctor to manage his symptoms.Thanks
Seems like he is in a dangerous manic state. I think drinking is one of the worst things he do. But it does seem like Marcia might have the right idea--that he needs an adjustment from his doctor. Medicines are set at one point for mania; once he gets over an acute stage, his meds need to be tweaked. When he says he is too low, he could be slipping into depression.
SInce I am on only a little medicine, I have to keep daily journals of my mood(s). Sometimes I can only write a few words on scrap paper, but even that act helps me slow down and evens out the moods. I also had a father-in-law who was bipolar. He gave up drinking but never sought any treatment whatsoever, so he remained a professional jerk. So, given your position, there's nothing much you can do except try to understand and predict and protect yourself, your husband, your kids. Good Luck!
Interesting differences. My wife was, I believe, was bipolar II. With a combination of meds, cognative therapy, and ECTs (every six weeks) she functioned as well as could be expected. She wasn't able to work full time, but she could work part time. A little over a year ago though, she stopped taking her meds. We were going to have a child and her p-doc advised she could not conceive while on her regimine of medications. Unfortunately, that's when the problems started. It was a slow slide, but she eventually went hypomanic. By the time it came to the surface, it was too late. Hypersexuality, inflated sense of importance, it was all there. In the end, she walked away from the marriage, believing she was no longer sick and that she was on some journey of self-discovery. I was left to pick up the pieces.
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