not being taken seriously

I believe I have bipolar but the substance misuse service thinks its an overiding alcohol issue. Where do I go from here?

Psychiatric appointment at the alcohol services next Wednesday but I believe I'm not going to get taken seriously.

I have extreme mood swings even when sober. One day I'll be depressed, other days hyper. On my hyper days I speak really fast that people think I'm taking amphetamines. I ********* 6 times a day on non depressed days. I've wasted £26,000 in 6 months.

My latest psychotic episode:

In July I was drunk and high on cannabis and started blasting music full blast 100% volume. People started knocking on my door and I thought they were burglars.

On the 24th of October, I went round to this guys flat who's a known burglar and threatened to beat him up, I also threatened his brother by text.

The next day our lock got smashed in (his cousins a known vandalist and burglar). I was playing music really loud that day so it must have happened then. I saw a neighbour watching my house so I walked out of the house screaming at the top of my lungs "IT's HIM' and screamed "AArgh" and punched the bush".

I then walked up the road towards the shops and saw a guy on a motorcycle. I shouted at the top of my lungs "HAVE YOU JUST SMASHED OUR LOCK IN?" "TURN THE F AROUND AND COME BACK HERE".

I've been like this since I was a teen.

Hi sunnys80,

Welcome to the forum!
Please note that we have forum rules that we need to follow. We cannot use obscene or vulgar language, and discussions of marijuana (excepting medical marijuana) is not permitted.
Please view link where you can have a read of the rules in your spare time to familiarize yourself with it:

I am glad you joined us.

A psychiatrist would be able to conduct an evaluation and make a diagnosis.

You mentioned an alcohol issue? Are you an substance abuser or are you sometimes dependent on alcohol? Sometimes Bipolar disorder and alcoholism commonly co–occur. I have read that Bipolar disorder is more likely to occur with alcohol dependence than with alcohol abuse. Although alcohol does not cause bipolar disorder, it can set off a serious bipolar episode and trigger mania.

pedidiva offered you some good advise. Writing things down is very helpful. This will be helpful to you doctor as well. My mother advised me to start this as sometimes when I visit my doctor, I forget to mention certain things, or ask certain questions.

If you are diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, or they conclude it is an alcohol issue, please know that both issues or disorders can be managed. However, you must be willing to seek help and take the first step.

I hope your appointment goes well. Keep us updated on how it goes.

UA

It's good that you responded.

I do believe it's interesting whether the psychiatrist will take you seriously concerning if your up times are from the alcohol or from the manic part of your manic-depression situation.

But you also have some work to do before Wednesday.

In a way, it doesn't matter what the psychiatrist thinks. What matters is if you can stop drinking.

Even if he or she does believe you, even if they prescribe you the right medicine, one for the mania (I take Lithium) and one for the depression (I take Mirtazapine anti-depressant), if you're still drinking, you can't take any such medicine.

As they saying goes, we can be our own worst enemies at times.

It's not going to be whether the doctor gets it right or not, it's going to be whether you get it right.

Why are you drinking? What is it you are trying to get over?

Is it inherited?

You have plenty of work to do, as do we all. Do you believe you can stop drinking? Do you believe you can solve this problem? That's what's going to determine the outcome of this.

And that's a good thing. We are the captain of our own ships, we are the masters of our own souls. God speed us on our journey.

It’s good that you responded.

1. You said, “A close friend who has bipolar noticed the symptoms in me 7 years ago and said I think you may have it but I never took him seriously.”

That’s the way I learned I was bipolar. I was talking on the phone to a lay minister/counselor, and was telling him about my troubles, and he said, “I knew your uncle, and he was manic-depressive, and I think you are, too.”

So, two things, I inherited my bipolar from my mother’s mother, and my uncle was her son, and he was bipolar, also. And, you inherited your alcoholism from your ancestors, and you learned of your bipolar from a friend.

2. Rage. When I use to drive, I couldn’t go very far without getting furious at a lot of people. I’ve gotten two very aggressive men to get out of their car and want to do me bodily harm. One word: Lithium. Which is a mood stabilizer for bipolar, or, life saver, yeah.

We’ll live longer with a mood stabilizer, like Lithium. There are others.

Lithium is for the mania. On the other end of the spectrum, we also need something for the depression. One word: Mirtazapine, for me that is, it’s an anti-depressant.

Rage, part II: You say: “I have extreme mood swings even when sober. One day I'll be depressed, other days hyper. On my hyper days I speak really fast that people think I'm taking amphetamines. I've wasted £26,000 in 6 months.

“On the 24th of October, I went round to this guys flat who's a known burglar and threatened to beat him up, I also threatened his brother by text.

“I then walked up the road towards the shops and saw a guy on a motorcycle. I shouted at the top of my lungs "HAVE YOU JUST SMASHED OUR LOCK IN?" "TURN AROUND AND COME BACK HERE".

That sounds like me and my neighbors.

Paranoia is probably part of the bipolar, and especially when the mania gets really bad.

So what Lithium does is lower the mania, and lift you from the depression. You won’t want to be stomping everybody. You’ll also need an anti-depressant, to better handle that end of the spectrum of bipolar.

Yeah, add alcohol to the mania and the depression, and any mental disorder becomes much worse.

My mother’s mother had bipolar, but they did not have any medicine for it in the 1930s and 1940s and into the 1950s. And she went through agony. You know, like we would be if it weren’t for Lithium.

She had to be sent to a state hospital 125 miles from her home, where she stayed for years. Because they had no Lithium.

So we want to take advantage of being in the right time, a time when they have Lithium and other mood stabilizers for bipolar.

But we can’t take it if we’re taking alcohol. So you have to decide. You have to put on your big girl panties.
I know, it’s going to be tough.

You had my dad quit smoking? He knew his cigarettes were on the top of his dresser, and he wanted to see how long he could go before he went and got them. He never smoked again. He just quit smoking cigarettes. That how he stopped.

You said, “I'm waiting for a medicated detox for the alcohol but am trying my hardest to taper down my consumption before then.”

That is very good. Just try to be positive that you can solve that.

If you believe going into that problem, or any other, that you can solve it, your brain will be more likely to follow your instructions. If you believe you can’t solve that problem going into it, your brain will follow those instructions.

That’s why it’s important if you believe you can solve it going in to the problem. So decide that right now. Do you believe you can stop drinking?

It’s not important, it’s the deciding issue. Do you believe you can solve that problem, and others you may face?

You found this help website, how did you do that and why? If you can do that, you can do a lot of other things.

Let us know how this is going.

I had the psychiatric appointment today. He does believe I have bipolar but can't diagnose me because he's a substance misuse psychiatrist. He told me to abstain from alcohol for a few months then ask my gp to refer me to a mental health psychiatrist.

I'm six days sober. I ordered diazepam off the internet and self detoxed myself. I told him this. He says the alcohol complicates things and I will need to be clean for a while to get a proper diagnosis.

Thanks Tim Tam. I've been off the valium since Saturday. I only took it for two days and then didn't suffer withdrawal symptoms after that. I was also taking codeine which I was prescribed for pain a few days after and have been clean from that for three days.

I'm moving into supported living rehab next Tuesday the 12th. I'm also booking a gp appointment today t be referred to a mental health psychiatrist because over here in England it takes a few months until you're actually seen after being referred. I'm never touching alcohol or any drugs again.

I'll keeep you updated on how it goes.

A psychiatrist will take you seriously if you can describe how you feel accurately. Write down the words for how you feel when too energetic, along with some examples. Do the same for when you are lower energy or your body is slowed down. Include a description of your agitation and irritability, and how young you remember these things happening. If you focus only on depression, you'll get antidepressants. If you focus on the whole picture, possibly you will trial a different med, such as a mood stabilizing anticonvulsant. The psychiatrists go by what you tell them. Many, many people self-medicate when they are uncomfortable or unstable. You are wise to seek input from a psychiatrist. You may need to see a few until you find one who understands. Some are better than others. Find on you can work with. There is alcoholism and bipolar all over my family tree. It seems they find alcohol first, which takes up many years to work through that underlying bipolar. Good luck to you!! Congratulations for being pro-active!

with TN. PS...all psychiatrist are trained in all facets of
mental illness, and i am bemused that a misuse shrink,
can't dx you as you may have a dual dx? what a crock.
might specialise in misuse, however all shrinks are dr's first,
then if train to be a psychiatrist do another 6-8 yrs. i would look around.
and maybe ask if this person is just an addiction specialist?
look for a consultant psychiatrist approved by the relevant board in
your area country.

Hi Sunny,

Great to hear that you found a doctor who listened to you. Sounds like you are comfortable with him.

I am glad you are seeking further help to get a referral to a mental health psychiatrist. You are on the right track.

How is the abstinence from the substances going thus far for you? How are you coping?

Kindly note that I removed the links you posted with the doctor you visited. I know you were just sharing it with us, but it may violate our rule:
Advertising or spam is defined as posting a link for the purpose of selling, soliciting or promoting something.

Please view link where you can have a read of the rules in your spare time to familiarize yourself with it:
/www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=46&m=106997

Keep us updated on your are you doing on this journey. Please know that we are here for you through this journey that you are taking.

UA

Very proud of you.

Is tomorrow the big day? You said you were to go into the substance abuse center on Dec. 12.

In the meantime before you see a psychiatrist, are you suppose to not have any medicine?

When is the soonest you can see a psychiatrist?

Are you still in the same social situation you were in when you got into trouble?

What is your home life like? Does the person you live with have a substance problem?

If so, I would think that if you stay with that person, I think it would be harder to disconnect from the substance.

I think it would also be difficult to disconnect from the person you may be living with.

You might have to make some tough choices.

I think it's good that you are staying positive.

Please let us know how your first day goes. The first day of the rest of your life.

Congrats on being 11 days+ sober Sunny!


Keep up the good work, and staying positive. Know it may be hard at time, but you can do it!

Hi, its been a while. A different gp referred me to a mental health psyciatrist on the 13th and in the beginning of February went to see the mental health team at my hospital. I had explained everything and they because its an emergency they said they would write to my gp and the mental health centr to push my appointment more forward. I asked them to also write to the alcohol misuse services because they're saying its just an alcohol problem and they said they would.

I also kept or keep relapsing with alcohol and fell down broke arm my mid February and my appointment date for my psychiatric assessment was on the exact same date on the date at the fracture clinic for my arm which the ambulance had to come and take me to hospital for a few days before and a few days before I broke my arm I'd had another episode which is too cringing to talk about. It's really hard to forget. I've been sober almost 4 weeks.

Anyway I had to cancel the psychiatric appointment and had it on the 14th of this month. It was with a psychiatric nurse and this other woman was in also there. I explained everything. He asked if I'd ever taken antipsychotics or mood stabilizers? I said no. He said I need to get diagnosed first and mentioned Olanazapine and a mood stabilizer. I'm waiting for an appointment to see a psyciatrist.

The counselor at the alcohol misuse services still isn't taking in or is just forgetting what I'm telling her. She said I shouldn't take strong pyschiatric medication and won't need them once sober even though I've been like this before I became alcoholic at 25, now 37.

I've been like this since 15 years old. I had also taken something and was sedated and the counselor said you're really calm today. Usually you're really talkative, speak really quick and seem hyper this after telling her and explaining everything about my bipolar to her a month earlier.

I didn't say nothing but i've a feeling she's not going to be a good counselor is she's not listening to what I'm telling her.

She's there for relapse prevention and I usually relapse when I'm either manic or depressed. Even the woman at the hospital behind the reception who i'd seen with another man just before seeing the gp then mental health team said to her colleagues. "He's really manic speaking about 60 words per minute".

Post Edited (sunnys80) : 3/24/2018 11:43:00 AM (GMT-6)

Thanks Tim Tam. I've been 4 weeks sober since lapsing a few times. The mental health team didn't say anything about me not having it because I explained everything from my childhood years. They said I need to be diagnosed and then meds.

It's the alcohol services and the alcohol counselor who knows nothing about mental health not taking it in or taking me seriously but the mental health team are.