Another quick question

[Electrum]

I'm about to be evaluated for bipolar disorder but my worst fear is to be misdiagnosed again. The psych I'm about to see is supposedly a specialist with bipolar. (I'm very distrusting of doctors mind you.) Can anyone tell me from experience if they look at the possibility of personality disorders like BPD while evaluating for bipolar disorder? I'll definitely ask the doctor, but I'm just so paranoid that I'll be misdiagnosed again and BPD and bipolar do have a lot in common. I know I should just be patient and ask the doctor when my appointment gets here but I'm just going crazy over this I think. And my insurance only covers so much, otherwise I would also find a specialist in personality disorders and get a second opinion. Uhg, maybe that is what I'll wind up doing anyway, even if my insurance can't cover it all. I just know how much these doctors want to prescribe their medicines. Not that I'm against medicine, but I just don't want to be seen as profit instead of a patient. Sorry for the rambles, I really need to sleep lol.  

[ILADVOCATE]

Just detail exactly what is going on and explain it to them. When a person tries to convince a psychiatrist they have a specific diagnosis the results can be poor because they may have other issues going on as well. I know from experience. BPD is completely seperate from bipolar and is caused by child abuse and involves co-dependent and self destructive and destructive behavior and does not respond to medication alone. DBT therapy is needed as well. Its complex to say what's going on and only a psychiatrist could understand it fully. Just make sure to give them the full details for the initial visit and follow up as well and ask them what they see in their opinion and how they are trying to treat it.

[corlenbelspar]

Well the doctor I first went to see when my psychosis was getting out of hand and I got fed up with being depressed more and more said I had bipolar disorder and sent her findings to the Centers for Mental Health.  When I went there and described what was going on with me they ended up diagnosing me with schizophrenia instead because I had things going on which I forgot to tell the first doctor which combined were a red flag so to speak for schizophrenia and I only seemed manic when I wasn't depressed only because of my actions and thoughts I guess because there was no mood behind it as a driving force whatsoever which the first doctor didn't even bother to investigate.  Then I saw the psychiatrist on the PACT team who evaluated me to see if I belonged there when I was joining them and he gave me the same diagnosis of schizophrenia even after I told him about my history of depression and such.  So this leads me to believe if they aren't one of those doctors who doesn't care or whatever and they're experienced they're going to listen to what's going on with you and consider all the possibilities.  Like in my case the small details and accuracy of description make all the difference in what they diagnose you with.  Just be careful you don't get a psychiatrist like adel_ezz had one time who tried to say he had bipolar 1.5. lmao

[Electrum]

Thank you so much guys. I'm just nervous about this and the insomnia isn't helping me lol. Do you think it'd be a good idea to bring in one of my journals with me? It could possibly shed a pretty good light on some of my issues. I was scared myself to look at it again it's been a couple years since I've even kept a journal... and when I looked at it I was pretty shocked at what I found.

[Electrum]

Quick update: I just found out that my paternal grandfather (only met him once) is bipolar. I'm not sure if he was ever officially diagnosed, but from the series of letters he has written my dad, my father confirms that he had extreme lows and then extreme irrational anger and irritation. He also mentioned in a letter that his mother (my great grandmother) was also very emotionally unstable. He wasn't that clear about it, and I'm not sure if he can be trusted anyway, but he mentioned that she was also psychotic.

This is a big find. I only met him when I was really little, but I remember my father always being upset about some of the letters he would send him. Like one letter would be relatively normal, for him, and the next letter would be extremely hateful and irrational.

I'm going to mention this for sure to the doctor. I know they didn't have an official diagnosis but it's still something.