Follow- up on an old post

[Nightrage]

This is a follow- up on a post of mine from a long time ago. (I explained that I have difficulties focusing, remembering things, etc.) About a month ago, I started seeing a therapist because I tend to get verbally abusive, I get extreme mood swings, I can barely bring myself to read things because I can't focus, I rarely remember things, I have anxiety, I'm extremely fickle and well, I could go on all day long. I figured it's about time I do something so that I can stop taking crap out on my girlfriend, friends and family. My psychology professor agreed to start treating me as soon as the semester was over. He's a specialist in handling and treating dissociative disorders. He suspects I have DD-NOS 1A. It's a disorder that's listed in the misc. section of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). From what I understand of it, as a child, I felt threatened by my environment. I was constantly bullied by my mother, father, brother and eventually my classmates. Since little kids can't really defend themselves from bullying, sometimes our minds somewhat break away from reality as a defense mechanism. I more or less created my own little fantasy world and my mind is in several parts right now. One thing my mind did was create an image of myself where I'm incredibly powerful. Basically, my mind has a Napolean complex. I love feeling like I have control over someone else. This is just one problem it's caused.

In a nutshell, my mind is separated into several different nations which need to be united under one banner. That's basically what we've come to so far. My professor/ therapist explained that it was a stroke of luck that we met. There aren't really any other therapists on Long Island that have the training to deal with my disorder, or even notice or diagnose it. He told me that if I had run into just about anyone else on LI, I would have been diagnosed with ADD, bipolar disorder and maybe even some other stuff.

[raroZ28]

Good to see that you can admit you have a problem and are trying to do something about it. Good luck with this, I hope they don't just put you on a ton of meds for the rest of your life.

[Nightrage]

Good to see that you can admit you have a problem and are trying to do something about it. Good luck with this, I hope they don't just put you on a ton of meds for the rest of your life.

No medication whatsoever!

That's why I didn't go to a psychiatrist. Their solution to everything is a freakin happy pill. I don't get it. These people are ready to make you emotionally, mentally and physically dependant on a pill, yet it's not even guaranteed to work. If you pumped my girlfriend's dad full of enough Valium to kill a rhino, he'd still walk around complaining all day long. Not everything is a chemical imbalance that has to be corrected with pills. Next time you're watching TV and you see a commercial for a pill to cure depression or something, listen carefully. They say things like "We believe _____ may be linked to _____ and (insert product name here) may help relieve these symptoms". They can't say things like "our product will relieve these symptoms" because there's a good chance they won't. There's usually a reason people have the problems that they have. If you can talk it out, then actually do something to correct it, I feel that's how things should be handled. Not, "Oh, you're depressed? Sorry to hear it. Have a pill".

[97 Zee]

Way too often doctors throw pills at a problem because they dont know how to treat it or dont want to take the time to find out what might really be going on. WAAAYYY too many children get "labled" with ADD or hyperactivity and get put on medication when they probably dont need it. Dont get me wrong , I'm sure there are kids or adults that need it but I believe, more often than not, its the easy way out for doctors to just perscribe meds. Its a shame. I hope you get the help you need and everything works out for you. I'm glad your not choosing the medication way. Good Luck

[wolfdogs]

my sister is bipolar. since our Mother passed away. listen to the doc broh.

[Rhode Island Red]

Glad you found the right person to treat you My mom was misdiagnosed and overmedicated as such for 20 years. As a result of the meds she develpod parkinsons and passed away with the same things the late Pope John paul died of. In this case the meds and misdiagnosis litterally killed her.

We're still in the dark ages when it comes to how the mind works. My mom's life was testament to this fact... we know nothing yet.

Absolute best of luck in your treatment

[Nightrage]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Sorry to hear about all of the misfortunate events you've all had to deal with. Some doctors don't seem to know their butt from a hole in the ground no matter how many years of medical school they have under their belts. I knew a guy that had been diagnosed as mentally handicapped early on in life. He was absolutely wild. He was an adult yet he hung around with a 11 year old. They used to watch professional wrestling together and such. At first it seemed suspicious, but he truely had the mentality of a pre teen. When he was in his mid 20's, they found out that there was a tumor on his brain. They removed it and he was completely normal from then on. He wound up winning 3 million dollars in a lawsuit and no one ever heard from him again. It's frightening to think about things like this. 20+ years thinking he's mentally handicapped, all the while a tumor is sitting on his brain.

I'm happy that I've finally found out what's wrong with me. I've always been "the weird kid" or the "annoying kid". I never really had many friends. I grew up playing video games by myself in my room. I don't think this helped the situation much lol. Now I have a handfull of friends, but it's weird explaining the disorder to everyone. "Well, it's a little bit of ADD, hyperactivity, multiple personality disorder and bipolar disorder all slapped together." I usually get some strange looks when they hear that My therapist said that it's actually very treatable. It's just going to take time. He actually told me that probably 1 in 10 people have the same thing that I have. The thing is, since most therapists can't recognize or diagnose it, so it's often labeled as something else. I guess it sounds a lot worse than it really is. He said that since I don't drink and I've never so much as dabbled with drugs, we should be able to breeze through this. At least in comparison to if I was a drinker or a drug abuser. We got through a booklet/ questionaire in 2 hours when it was supposed to take us 4. That was pretty funny.

Hopefully I'll be cured soon. I've been reading my German textbook every night in an attempt to pick up on the language, but it's very hard to remember things. I manage though. It's the same with things that I read on this site. If I could remember even 50% of what I've read on this site I'd be in great shape. I'm hoping to see the day that I can remember everything. That'll be awesome. Thanks again everybody!

[ryan34]

I work in a pharmacy and believe me....."happy pills" are way over perscribed. If they try to put you on something that makes you "concentrate" better...i.e. ritalin/concerta or adderall, use at your own risk....they've been known to cause heart problems in long term use. Good luck with everything.

edit: I've seen women becuase they couldn't get there zoloft(anti-depressant) for what ever reason.(insurance problems, or too early or the like.) And i'm talking full blown balling, thats a bit too dependant for my tastes.

[TraceZ]

It's good to hear you are on the right path now. Keep us posted.