GAD v bi-polar

[darrenleewelsh]

Hi all. For a long time now i have been told and convinced myself that I have GAD but recently I have been reading articles and symptoms on bi-polar disorder and I tick more boxes on these symptoms than any other. I'm due to see my doctor next week so I will discuss it with her. Has anyone else thought this as well?

[MrAndy]

I had two spells I hospital alongside bi polar patients it is night and day different to sombody suffering from gad

[MyNameIsTerry]

I thought I may be bipolar due to my constant mood swings. The mood swings have become less frequent though over the course of the last 3 years as I worked on my GAD & OCD.

What I found was that whilst I have the intense anxiety and depression, I don't suffer from the mania or if I do, its not to the expected level to justify bipolar.

There are 2 forms of bipolar though, the main one we all know about where the swings are terrible but are infrequent throughout the year and the lesser known form that has a less severe swing but occurs more frequently. Then there is an even lesser form callled Cyclothemia, I think?

I remember reading an article about it taking 2 years on average to determine if a patient is bipolar...which is ludricrous. It seemed to be that because it could be seen to be close to anxiety & depression, they had to rule everything out first which seemed more of a copout for current poor standards to me given there are some big differences between these conditions.

You mentioned on the other thread that you exhibited characteristics of mania with risky behaviour & spending but some of these things can also be seen in Personality Disorders so there could even be a link there. PD's are treatable, they are just harder to resolve due to their routing in deep seated core beliefs but then again, is a long term anxiety sufferer much different after it distorts their thoughts & beliefs?

[pulisa]

Personally I believe that the diagnosis you get depends on the psychiatrist/mental health professional you consult. There are huge discrepancies in the mental health system of diagnosis which badly need to be addressed. It seems to be quite "trendy" now to get a Bipolar 2 diagnosis with celebs popping in and out of therapy centres-it's belittling for those who truly suffer from such a debilitating and devastating condition.

[MrAndy]

the diagnosis is less important than the treatment you get,people with gad will mood swing its natural as sometimes you feel better than others.Mood swings with BiPolar are extreme and debilatating

[MyNameIsTerry]

Personally I believe that the diagnosis you get depends on the psychiatrist/mental health professional you consult. There are huge discrepancies in the mental health system of diagnosis which badly need to be addressed. It seems to be quite "trendy" now to get a Bipolar 2 diagnosis with celebs popping in and out of therapy centres-it's belittling for those who truly suffer from such a debilitating and devastating condition.

Yeah, celebrities love selling their stories and I'm often skeptical of what exactly they do/did suffer from. Alcoholism is always one that is debatable with celebs as they seem to be superhuman in their on off approach to handling it.

I've had GAD for over 8 years from the very start and my GP has always diagnosed me with depression until I relapsed about 3-4 years ago where he asked me "is it more anxiety than depression" to which I replied "yes, its always been anxiety, not depression from the start" so he went with GAD but still never diagnosed my OCD despite reports from the therapist he referred me to! So, I think GP's can be very poor and we need access to proper psychologists which seem to be available at the elusive Level 4 in the stepped care model.