fade
Staff member
I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I think you may be hearing me say more than I actually am, because your follow up is pretty much what I said.
Rant VIII: The Reckoning
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I agreed with some of what you said, but I extended it, mainly to reflect on the present situation where people are offering diagnoses.
Cajungal
Staff member
@ThatNickGuy
Having run out of things to say, here's a cute video of Dill's future baby. And another hug.
Having run out of things to say, here's a cute video of Dill's future baby. And another hug.
I do want to to throw one thing in though - even though this is annoying and I do agree about lay people opining against experts in a lot of cases, including psycho-analysis: I've seen a lot of horribly wrong diagnoses in psychotherapy. And a lot of really, really bad psychiatrists. As in, "deliberately get patient dependent on me and/or the meds I prescribe", "deliberately misdiagnose to get more funding", "not listen to patient and continue to hold onto first diagnosis based on folder of pre-prepared information from the nurse",.... I've also met and worked with some really good psychiatrists, but...Well, there is a Wall of Silence/whatever thing going on with doctors, too, and certainly in the psychiatric department.
The same goes for physical medicine, but there people still seem more inclined to believe in the importance of a second opinion/are capable of seeing something isn't working and trying something else. To take an example (and sure, anecdote ahoy), my ex has sarcoidosis. She also had a lot of problems with her bowels/stomach. This was (mis)diagnosed for years as also being part of the sarco, and treated as such, despite those meds not helping at all. It's only after yet another emergency visit that she's been re-diagnosed as, besides sarco, also having lactose intolerance and Crohn's...Leading to an operation and a whole different set of medication, that has improved her quality of life by leaps and bounds (as in, "not wearing a diaper anymore as a 30 year old woman"). It's a lot harder to "push back" or question a psychiatrist or therapist, because it's a lot harder to point to something and say "this. This is not working/not doing what it needs to do/feels wrong". Because that's often the case, at first, with what works, too.
Anyway, to get back to the here and now: I don't know whether you're (mildly) bipolar or not, Nick; as you say, we only see part of your personality, part of your life. However, you really do have both high highs and low lows. Perhaps not strong enough, or often enough, or prolonged enough, or fill-in-the-blanks, to exactly fit the diagnosis. Still, part of the reason you crash so hard is that you fly so high, and not taking that into account, under-rating that, or whatever, can cause, not necessarily a mis-diagnosis, but a misinterpretation of certain signs or whatever I'm lost for words in English for a second here... a lack of attention to a certain side of the problem. This might also stem from unclear or inaccurate reporting from your end (and I don't mean this as an attack!): if they rarely see you on the upswing, or your reporting is "everything is fine now, I'm running normally", they may be underestimating that side of the equation. Or perhaps your normal/usual self is just a whole lot more upbeat and productive than mine is, I dunno, it's not like I'm a great example of mental health
Anyway, good luck, strength, and just try and keep aware that the piece of you telling you it's not worth it is not rational or right.
The same goes for physical medicine, but there people still seem more inclined to believe in the importance of a second opinion/are capable of seeing something isn't working and trying something else. To take an example (and sure, anecdote ahoy), my ex has sarcoidosis. She also had a lot of problems with her bowels/stomach. This was (mis)diagnosed for years as also being part of the sarco, and treated as such, despite those meds not helping at all. It's only after yet another emergency visit that she's been re-diagnosed as, besides sarco, also having lactose intolerance and Crohn's...Leading to an operation and a whole different set of medication, that has improved her quality of life by leaps and bounds (as in, "not wearing a diaper anymore as a 30 year old woman"). It's a lot harder to "push back" or question a psychiatrist or therapist, because it's a lot harder to point to something and say "this. This is not working/not doing what it needs to do/feels wrong". Because that's often the case, at first, with what works, too.
Anyway, to get back to the here and now: I don't know whether you're (mildly) bipolar or not, Nick; as you say, we only see part of your personality, part of your life. However, you really do have both high highs and low lows. Perhaps not strong enough, or often enough, or prolonged enough, or fill-in-the-blanks, to exactly fit the diagnosis. Still, part of the reason you crash so hard is that you fly so high, and not taking that into account, under-rating that, or whatever, can cause, not necessarily a mis-diagnosis, but a misinterpretation of certain signs or whatever I'm lost for words in English for a second here... a lack of attention to a certain side of the problem. This might also stem from unclear or inaccurate reporting from your end (and I don't mean this as an attack!): if they rarely see you on the upswing, or your reporting is "everything is fine now, I'm running normally", they may be underestimating that side of the equation. Or perhaps your normal/usual self is just a whole lot more upbeat and productive than mine is, I dunno, it's not like I'm a great example of mental health
Anyway, good luck, strength, and just try and keep aware that the piece of you telling you it's not worth it is not rational or right.
Okay, Britta.
fade
Staff member
Seriously, where are you guys hearing me say anything like that? I said it doesn't hurt to bring in external evidence to your professional, basically, because you (and people in your life) have perspective(s) he or she doesn't have. If that involves your friend saying, oh it looks like X because Y, that in no way means you think the friend is "better" or more educated than the pro, but if the friend isn't just blowing smoke, what does it hurt? I'm not saying go in biased against your doctor.
I'm inclined to see @fade's perspective on this. From what I remember though, Nick has had family members attend his sessions and I have no doubt that a trained professional would take their experiences into account. If they hadn't participated, I would suggest that any ill person is hardly the best indicator for long term issues. In writing, we'd call Nick an "unreliable narrator" for his own life. I'd look at it as "When he's up, he thinks that's the way life is and should be, and that's a high that we all experience every day. A description of that to a professional would be, from his perspective 'normal' and when he's out of that high, it's crushing, debilitating and soul-sucking. " Again, I can't imagine a well-trained diagnostician wouldn't think of that already.
The issue with us taking a viewpoint based on our relatively limited interactions with each other here is that it either presents a very limited and controlled view of each other based on information that we either choose to present or repress. If I had to rattle off issues that everyone here presents on a regular basis, I'd say:
None of us are any of those things in any kind of serious form. It's fun to play Internet Doctor, but it can also be quite hurtful.
The issue with us taking a viewpoint based on our relatively limited interactions with each other here is that it either presents a very limited and controlled view of each other based on information that we either choose to present or repress. If I had to rattle off issues that everyone here presents on a regular basis, I'd say:
- @GasBandit is a latent zoophiliac.
- @Bubble181 is addicted to some kind of happy psychedelic.
- @Dave has impulse control problems.
- @Nick is avoidant.
- @Charlie Don't Surf has histrionic personality disorder.
- @Officer_Charon is slightly anankastic.
- @Adam has NPD.
None of us are any of those things in any kind of serious form. It's fun to play Internet Doctor, but it can also be quite hurtful.
GasBandit
Staff member
Wait wait wait WHAT?
You can only post so many pictures of flamingo cloacas in the NSFW section "ironically."
Saw my psychiatrist today. I'd forgotten that she'd recently brought up the idea of bipolar disorder. After talking about it more, she's now leaning towards a new diagnosis. Not Situational Depression, as I've been diagnosed with for years, but Bipolar II, a.k.a. Bipolar Depression. I bought a workbook about it after the meeting, and I need to look up more about it , but the more I read about, the more I think she's right.
She also prescribed me a different medication for this new diagnosis. I'm still on the 300mg of Wellbutrin, but now she gave me 20mg of Latuda. We'll see how that goes.
I'm...really sorry for all my freakouts lately. I know it's not the first time and I doubt it'll be the last, but I'm still sorry.
She also prescribed me a different medication for this new diagnosis. I'm still on the 300mg of Wellbutrin, but now she gave me 20mg of Latuda. We'll see how that goes.
I'm...really sorry for all my freakouts lately. I know it's not the first time and I doubt it'll be the last, but I'm still sorry.
I think everyone here just wants to see you thrive, whatever it takes to get you there. Hugs and hang in there.
I would have gone with keeps women locked in his basement myself.
for reference purposes.
I learned a word today. Huh!
And Nick, I reiterate what I said on Facebook... *brohug* I hope that your doctor-recommended changes bear some fruit. Always here to chat.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
And Nick, I reiterate what I said on Facebook... *brohug* I hope that your doctor-recommended changes bear some fruit. Always here to chat.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
GasBandit
Staff member
Please, please tell me that the word was not "cloaca."
*sideeye*
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
I hope this will provide you with some relief and stability. You've been through so much; it's time you got a break.
We're your Halforums family and are here for you, whenever you need us.
<hugs!>
That is exactly what other people are suggesting. And I contend it is because people don't even understand the menu of possible diagnoses but they have sure heard of bipolar disorder.
I'd say maybe he confused you and me, but then "latent" doesn't quite fit.
Look man I've seen Scrubs and House all the way through so I know it'll never be Lupus and my doctors should be moderately attractive and willing to do comedy bits and have tearful, dramatic conversations at my bedside like I'm not even there
GasBandit
Staff member
Man, I hear what you're saying and all, but really how yellow does a guy's skin gotta be before the layperson can say "jaundice" and not be aggressively asked about his credentials?
Why does he need to diagnose? A doctor can see yellow too. I totally get urging people to go see the professionals. Even emphatically.
The closest thing to crowd-sourced medicine that I know of is "Figure 1", one of my favorite Android apps. The crucial point is to gather the right "crowd."
That being said, I think that testing the performance of industry-specific prediction markets (such as a non-emergency medicine prediction market) would be a fascinating project.
We're already theeeeeeeere.
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028840/...-of-crowdsourced-predictions-about-the-future
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028840/...-of-crowdsourced-predictions-about-the-future
You monster.
Sorry, the owls tell me different.
On the forum, we only see tiny slices of a person's life, but a strobe light can still reveal things that aren't normally visible.
I'm slightly disappointed I'm not in this list. I want to know what I project, too!
Also I can see why you'd think that about @GasBandit, but I would've said "Furry," not "Zoophile." There's a big difference.
There's plenty of literature on this exact thing. Groups, in aggregate, are often more right than individuals. EDIT: Looks like you've already heard about this.
And in this specific case, there's no guarantee that stumbling onto the "correct" diagnosis now doesn't automatically mean that the previous diagnosis was wrong at the time it was rendered. Brains/personalities/etc aren't static.
--Patrick
Please, no "I told you" type of stuff. Please?