Impressionable – a symptom of BPII?

[lagatta]

This is an off-handed question but I’m just curious – are people with BPII more impressionable?  

I’ll watch a T.V. show or listen to someone talk of an illness and all of a sudden I’ll be imagining or suspicious of the same.  

I don’t only do it with health issues.  If I watch a horror movie I’ll get spooked and become suspicious of house creaks that I normally consider normal.  If I know of a couple with marriage problems I’ll start over-analyzing mine and come up with all sorts of reasons why mine is in trouble too, etc.  

Intellectually I often know I’m being unreasonable but emotionally I’ll be convinced of whatever I feel is going on.

Does this happen to anyone else?

[bernie40]

Ok, just to throw a spanner in the works, because that's the kind of mood I'm in today.  Being impressionable is not part of a mental disorder.  It is a personality trait, a characteristic.  In other words you can be impressionable regardless of whether you have a mental health disorder or not.  Just because something is common amongst people with certain health issues does not make it part of that issue.  IMHO

I'm not sure how the thread switched from discussions on to rules! ?  However on that subject and again this could be deemed a bit provocative.  Just because rules are put in place does not always make them right nor does it mean they cannot be challenged.  In order for society to run efficiently we "agree" to abide by rules to prevent anarchy but as time and people change so do the rules sometimes have to change.  Rules are made to suit the majority and are not always suitable for the minority :-)

[ILADVOCATE]

That's a difficult question as among that list of mood stabilizers that are used off label some are more effective than others and some are hardly used at all (such as Clonidine which I am taking, it is not often used because it can make people depressed) because of side effects. The mood stabilizers less commonly used in standard working practice are Topomax, Trileptal, Keppra, Neurontin, and the anti-cholesterol medication used experimentally for bipolar Lovaza. I know I've taken all of those and been considered for the last. All of those are within working practice and most psychiatrists would be familiar with all of them but as stated I would not attempt to suggest one above the other and you can't go by my reactions to medications anyway. As per my approach to the world I think a slogan I used to read that said "act globally, think locally" applies.

[LetaB]

  Come on, do you think I am so nuts that I think I can....wait a sec, doesn't every life impinge upon the world in some small way? It's a matter of degrees. I suppose it would have been better to say "who will change the world MORE". I see my psychiatrist on Monday and will ask him (yet again) to switch my meds. My Lamatrogine has made me half blind and does not seem to help me out of my almost constantly dark mood. That said I still do not regret any of my statements here and believe I am being purposely misinterpretted. I am glad you are finally getting some relief from some of your more disrupting symptoms. Maybe you would be kind enough to SUGGEST what I might ask my doctor about tomorrow?

[ILADVOCATE]

No one can change the world, although I thought in that way before recovery when I was grandiose. One thing I do now in my thinking is try to keep it reality oriented and keep other people's reactions in mind something I could not do before recovery. I try to keep my ideas cogent and rational and on a small scale. Before I was capable of that a typical session with my psychiatrist was an hour long rant (on my end) in an agitated mixed state. Now things work out much better. The hardest thing I had to learn to give up was my own ego but it did happen eventually though I can say off a mood stabilizer it would get the better of me. I'm glad to be back on the Clonidine as it keeps me toned down which is the only way I can work with people on any level anywhere.

[LetaB]

Hello. If the last post was directed toward me I must point out that in my comment on this question, nor in ANY OTHER posting of mine, have I ever told anyone definitively what sort of action or meds they MUST take. I have always recommended and suggested as is appropriate. My comment here was merely a light hearted jibe at myself for a rather irritating habit I have - hence quotation marks and my use of the word "PLAY". It seems to me that some of us on earth are here to defend the "rules' whilst others question them - which will be more likely to change the world?

[LeftCoastChick]

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[LetaB]

Actually anyone can PLAY diagnostician - hence my use of "quotation marks"? I know you are always a politician but psychiatrists are trained professional human beings true - imperfect but trained to see what's on our minds. Would you really not say that you know a h#ll of a lot more than the average person about a myriad of mental complications? Of course you wouldn't. Besides, I was just admitting a weakness of mine (although not without merit) that I'm trying to control - but not entirely eliminate.

[ILADVOCATE]

Actually bipolar seems less an aspect of that than magical thinking. I have a friend with schizotypical personality disorder who is caught up in that kind of thinking but in some ways can function so he's not completely psychotic. No one can really play diagnostician but often psychiatrists can spot the signs of what's going with people in their behavior and ideas and oppositional defiant disorder is more someone who gets angry over minor events in an extreme way to the point where it impacts on society. Sometimes people whose thinking is different in the manner you described have other issues as well but really only a psychiatrist could make a final conclusion but its hard if they don't realize something is wrong to encourage them to seek help.

[LetaB]

What a fascinating question! I had never thought about it in quite that way but h#ll yes! I have a sister undiagnosed (currently) who I believe mixes BP with Oppositional/Defiant Disorder. All her life if she hears some wacky idea - bed springs radiate electricity through your body, flouride actually rots your teeth, cow's milk will not benefit you at all and will only make you phlemy - she will immediately adopt it and go preaching. This sort of health stuff and all the way to her zealous position on Christianity makes sense if this is true.

[ILADVOCATE]

Interesting. I don't know. My specific recovery was as regards psychosis. There are some occasional mood variances but I can "channel" them that is guide them in a real world sense so that they don't emerge into anything that gets me worked up. I plan through things logically and factually. So what might have started off as emotional by the end has a concrete and logical solution. You can't not emotionally react to stressful events as we are all human but its a matter of not letting emotions overwhelm you. I do believe that has improved as treatment has with me because in schizoaffective the mood stabilizer and antipsychotic work together. I can't predict people's recovery rates as new treatments become FDA approved in the future (just like people can't with any medication) but I can say sometimes cognitive behavioral therapy is good for understanding emotional trigger points and working around them.

[lagatta]

Are you suggesting that if I fully recover than perhaps I won't be as sensitive?

[lagatta]

OMG!  I know exactly what you mean.  If I’m around someone calm then I feel like I need to slow down.  If  I’m around someone loud then I’ll try to match their energy.  It’s utterly exhausting.   I am so out of touch with myself most of the time.  I have no idea who I am or what I want.  I feel things intensely but I'm not always sure what the feeling is or why I'm feeling it.  

[ILADVOCATE]

Emotionally yes I would think knowing people with bipolar who can panic all of a sudden or let things rush to their head emotionally due to loss of judgment which often happens in bipolar but for me I only experienced these feelings before recovery from schizoaffective when I was paranoid. The outside world and what was going on often seemed threatening and minor events that had no meaning took on great importance.

[therese83]

Yes
I am very sensitive and am recovering from sever depression

I have all this.  I even pick up peoples accents + if i'm talking to someone who is rough i become rougher + someone who is excentric in some way i start picking it up.

It is like i have no border + anyone can easily wind me up about a cause + have me out protesting on the streets.  I am learning (trying to learn) to slow down and consider what 'i' really feel.

I cant watch a horror movie, sorry out of the question ;-)