Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Why Bipolar Disorder is Being WIDELY Mis-Diagnosed and Treated (and What You Can Do)!

{Serious Mental Health Ed Share} πŸŽ“ In my many years of practice, I have seen WAY too many people misdiagnosed and treated for either anxiety or depression when they should be treated for bipolar disorder. There are a variety of reasons for this...
πŸ‘©‍🏫 People don't go to the doctor when they are in manic episodes because they feel amazing and even the down side of extreme mania doesn't catch up til they hit the low.
πŸ‘©‍🏫 Anxiety and depression can "hide" in alternate symptoms - anger, extreme elation or sadness, behavioral pushes (this is a whole other post - but think of self harm or excessive use of chemicals or other behaviors to "self soothe"), or situational events.
πŸ‘©‍🏫 Many still believe there is "something wrong with me not being normal like everyone else seems to be" and the concept of Bipolar has been turned into a label that makes us appear stupid, weak, and unable to cope "like everyone else is".
πŸ‘©‍🏫 Many people go to their general practice doctors and not psychiatrists when they experience these mood symptoms... and/or our medical profession consists of folks with degrees and training who do not fully assess, do not communicate with fellow colleagues who work with the patient, or are using old data and resources to diagnose and treat.
πŸ€• The problem is, you might not think the changes are worth being bothered by because our society has "normalized" anxiety as "Type A" and depression as "being tired or lazy".
πŸ€• The BIGGER problem is that being treated for only one symptom and not the other can cause extreme moods and behaviors, and sometimes leads to tragic ends.
SO, MY BEST CLINICAL ADVICE!
1. How to spot the signs you need to chat with your Psychiatrist about your meds:
🧐 Anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds don't work or stop working.
🧐 Anti-anxiety meds start to bring out the depression (you might not notice it as anything other than being tired or burnt out).
🧐 Anti-depression meds either stop working or you notice you're doing pleasurable things to excess.
2. GET EDUCATED!!!
πŸ€” Get CURIOUS about your symptoms and journal, research, and ask others with knowledge and experience.
🌎 Gather a SUPPORT network who can watch for symptoms you might not spot, and help them get resources to teach them about your symptoms and treatment options.
πŸ₯° LOVE yourself like you love your besties and have patience that the process of healing isn't easy, but it's worth it!!!
πŸ‘©‍⚕️Find (or get referred to through your insurance, or other trusted local pros) a peer respected Psychiatrist or Psych NP who will listen to you and ask you (and other providers) MANY questions to get to the right first course of treatment.
πŸ‘œ Find or get referred to a Mental Health Counselor who can help you work through the process of learning to live with moods and integrate them into who you are! #BestLife
>>> FOR MORE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH INFO LIKE THIS... feel free to email me your questions at JonniKhat@gmail.com, or post here and I'll post my answers on my BLOG www.khatcall.com or possibly on LIVE video chats so we can interact.
 ~ Jonni Fit Khat

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