Hi guys,
I’m here because I don’t really know what to do. I’m a 19 year old girl, and I think I might be a bit bipolar and schizoid. I am seeing a psychiatrist about this but the thing is that she is seeing the whole thing from a DSM criteria perspective whereas I think my main concern is that my symptoms seem to be on the bipolar spectrum. I think I may be on the bipolar spectrum because even though I don’t exhibit the classic symptoms of hypomania, I do have symptoms that resemble them in what seem like subtler ways.
I’ve done research on the creative temperament, the link between anxiety and bipolarity, and how bipolarity is a spectrum. I’ve always been someone who preferred to live in my imagination rather than with the outside world. For most of my life I preferred to be alone, pursuing solitary activities like writing and drawing, and never felt the urge to socialize more often or actively make friends. To this day, I’m shy, socially awkward with few close friends and I feel like I can’t connect deeply with people because I’m so different in personality and thoughts. I also recently found out that I have a predisposition for mood problems, as some recent events have caused the worst anxiety and depression I have ever experienced so far in my life to occur, and from which I am still trying to recover. I have a depressive personality and temperament, a susceptibility towards mood problems, and a very active mind in the sense that I’m more easily emotionally stimulated than most people I know and grew up with. By emotionally stimulated I mean that I feel more deeper about things and hence, I’m seen by others as an intense person. Lately, I also noticed that I am more likely to become excited or stimulated (get goosebumps/chills/increased heart rate) by intense commercials and other things that wouldn’t have triggered such feelings like this in the past. The depressive temperament and mood issues combined with the fact that I live in my head and create stories kind of resembles the creative temperament that is so frequently associated with bipolarity.
A couple years ago, I listened to a song I really liked and it triggered an ear worm episode that was relentless and kept me awake for the entire night, causing distress and kick starting an anxiety episode. I think that listening to the song made me too emotionally stimulated, but then this makes me wonder why in the world I was so emotionally stimulated to the degree i got something like that for the whole night in the first place. I also have an autistic older brother who has mood swings and mood issues.
I’m just wondering if anyone else has a similar experience like this where symptoms don’t exactly fit the DSM criteria of bipolarity, but kind of resemble it loosely? What are the prognosis of people who are on the spectrum? My psychiatrist doesn’t seem to have a good understanding of bipolarity beyond the classic definitions in the DSM and dismissed my concerns as needless worry.
I don’t want to think that I am on the spectrum, but at this point, I’m concerned about my behaviours.
I’m here because I don’t really know what to do. I’m a 19 year old girl, and I think I might be a bit bipolar and schizoid. I am seeing a psychiatrist about this but the thing is that she is seeing the whole thing from a DSM criteria perspective whereas I think my main concern is that my symptoms seem to be on the bipolar spectrum. I think I may be on the bipolar spectrum because even though I don’t exhibit the classic symptoms of hypomania, I do have symptoms that resemble them in what seem like subtler ways.
I’ve done research on the creative temperament, the link between anxiety and bipolarity, and how bipolarity is a spectrum. I’ve always been someone who preferred to live in my imagination rather than with the outside world. For most of my life I preferred to be alone, pursuing solitary activities like writing and drawing, and never felt the urge to socialize more often or actively make friends. To this day, I’m shy, socially awkward with few close friends and I feel like I can’t connect deeply with people because I’m so different in personality and thoughts. I also recently found out that I have a predisposition for mood problems, as some recent events have caused the worst anxiety and depression I have ever experienced so far in my life to occur, and from which I am still trying to recover. I have a depressive personality and temperament, a susceptibility towards mood problems, and a very active mind in the sense that I’m more easily emotionally stimulated than most people I know and grew up with. By emotionally stimulated I mean that I feel more deeper about things and hence, I’m seen by others as an intense person. Lately, I also noticed that I am more likely to become excited or stimulated (get goosebumps/chills/increased heart rate) by intense commercials and other things that wouldn’t have triggered such feelings like this in the past. The depressive temperament and mood issues combined with the fact that I live in my head and create stories kind of resembles the creative temperament that is so frequently associated with bipolarity.
A couple years ago, I listened to a song I really liked and it triggered an ear worm episode that was relentless and kept me awake for the entire night, causing distress and kick starting an anxiety episode. I think that listening to the song made me too emotionally stimulated, but then this makes me wonder why in the world I was so emotionally stimulated to the degree i got something like that for the whole night in the first place. I also have an autistic older brother who has mood swings and mood issues.
I’m just wondering if anyone else has a similar experience like this where symptoms don’t exactly fit the DSM criteria of bipolarity, but kind of resemble it loosely? What are the prognosis of people who are on the spectrum? My psychiatrist doesn’t seem to have a good understanding of bipolarity beyond the classic definitions in the DSM and dismissed my concerns as needless worry.
I don’t want to think that I am on the spectrum, but at this point, I’m concerned about my behaviours.
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