Diagnosis of Manic Depression ?
Q.I have a question about the diagnosis of manic depression. I suffered from depression from the age of 17, and saw many doctors since it was on the public health system. I was finally diagnosed with manic depression after 16 years. Has anyone else experienced this. And did they feel that they had lost a lot of their life because of it?
A.I had a delayed diagnosis of Bi-polar and 8 years of ineffective med choices. DX for Bi-polar, brought about a change of medication more specific to the illness, and allowed me to become medication compliant. I feel the long delay in optimum treatment, has caused a recovery setback. Social recovery has been very poor. Quality of life even with "stabilization" is far short of a "bowl full of cherries" I was first diagnosed with depression in 1981, not diagnosed bipolar till 1998. My psychiatrist says this is extremely common, and partly because bipolar people often manifest first with apparent unipolar depression for some years. I had a *somewhat* similar experience. I was diagnosed when I was 14 during one of my *many* stays at the local psychiatric hospital. However, to my 14 year old mind, this meant nothing and the moron did not tell my parents of my diagnosis! I spent 8 years after that in and out of psychiatric hospitals, repeated suicide attempts, having to be made a ward of the court and the tales go on and on before I was diagnosed again. At this time, I remembered that doctor telling me my diagnosis when I was fourteen years old. How much pain could I have not had to go through if that idiot had just told my parents?
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