[NSFW] Have you been diagnosed with a mental illness?

I’ve answered this in about a million and a half different places.

Yes, with panic/general anxiety disorder.

I am on Lexapro and Wellbutrin.

I’m coping fine since last week when the experiment of taking myself off the Wellbutrin failed miserably and I’m back on it.

Yes, I’m bipolar 2 with psychotic features, and I’ve been diagnosed with major depression and with generalized panic disorder and with adult attention deficit disorder.

I take relatively few pills for the various things, but I take them as prescribed. I cope by having a terrific case worker, psychiatrist, and a therapist I worship.

I also write a blog about it. That helps.

I don’t reveal my diagnoses to very many people, because of the stigma attached to mental illness. The friends I do reveal it to are very supportive.

I’ve been diagnosed with Pospartum Depression (for bouts when they occurred) and with Anxiety – I’m on Lexapro, it works.

No.

The closet I have come to a mental illness was stress related ‘adjustment disorder’ during a stressful divorce 8 years ago.

I put myself in a year of therapy and the therapist said that she was loathe to really label anything but, if she was required to for whatever hypothetical reason that would have been the diagnosis.

It was purely situational and faded away as I moved on with my life.

Other than the couple of weeks in dead winter when I get a little bit of the S.A.D. thing, usually Feb.- March in the height of winter gloominess.

This year I just took off for 3 weeks out of the country and came back to spring.

Problem solved! lol

I am fortunete to be possessed of strong mental/emotional stability and enthusiastic and optimistic energy.

I’ve been misdiagnosed which lead to being in an out-patient program at a hospital for a while—which actually ended up leading to some really bad depression. Sometimes I feel like it’s still lurking, but mostly I’m okay.

Other than that I have some horrible, awful anxiety lately that I never had before.

No but i have a self diagnosis that’s more of a disorder. I’m struggling right now to avoid a really twisted relationship that I’m tempted to engage in.

Depression and anxiety. Mostly anxiety these days. I take meds to calm me down. I’ve tried to come off them, but the anxiety always comes back full force. I’m doomed to take them the rest of my life.

I haven’t been diagnosed yet but I know I suffer from anxiety and depression. I am trying to help myself before I seek professional help. Some days are more manageable than others.

Yes, autistic, and ironically: batshit crazy.

Seriously though, getting diagnosed with anything is the worst thing that can happen to you. That is one system that doesn’t help anyone. My school basically kicked my out when the diagnosis came through. Leaving me with some anger issues.

That’s when it all got fucked up. I had to invent a religion because of that shit.

I think a lot of younger people outgrow their issues.

I am NOT saying that they do not cause pain and problematic situations, nor should one not seek help, BUT…it is true, a lot of depression and other conditions tend to burn out as people mature.

We mature mentally and emotionally as we age, just as our bodies do.

I am diagnosed bi-polar 2 and also OCD, BUT I suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury in 1992. Now it’s is one of those chicken/egg problems!

@Zyx You wrote, “Seriously though, getting diagnosed with anything is the worst thing that can happen to you. That is one system that doesn’t help anyone.”

I couldn’t disagree more. Getting diagnosed and finally getting the right treatment were the best things that ever happened to me. Before, I was alone in my head that was not working properly. I was using a sick brain to make decisions based on sick thinking, life-changing decisions.

I was depressed, anxious, and suicidal. And I blamed it all on myself. Finding out that it wasn’t my fault, that there was a disease causing these things, gave me such freedom. It enabled me to breathe comfortably at last.

As for the ascertian that the system helps no one, please be careful of making blanket generalizations. The system saved my life. When I was past the end of my rope and hopelessly lost, I had one person to call, and he hooked me into a system which has led me to a life that I love. Today, I’m calmer than I was. I’m peaceful. I sleep at night undisturbed. I have friends who love me. I have caregivers who honestly help. I have help from my family that I never had before.

While I hate my mental illness and what it’s done to my life, I love the life that I have today.

No but at one point I thought I really did have something going on. Turns out I’m just a natural tyrant.

I haven’t been officially diagnosed, but I know I have depression. I’m kind of afraid to be properly evaluated. I may find out that I’m truly insane in the membrane.

Depression treated with various antidepressants, at present Lexapro. It runs in the family, father and sister also suffered from depression.

@Zyx I tend to think along the same lines about diagnosis. I don’t believe in labels. I think they take away from the person as a whole. That’s just my own belief on the matter and it has arisen out of my own experience.
I can see and understand how a diagnosis can be a huge relief to people struggling, so overall it comes down to personal experience I suppose.

I didn’t see the rest of the question… I don’t use traditional medicine to treat my depression. I try to eat right, exercise, and all that. I don’t know if I’m coping well or not. There are days when I’m wondering why I’m even alive, and then there are great days…

No though while undergoing diagnosis of asperger’s syndrome I was screened for anxiety and depression, common co-morbid disorders. In both I scored high end of normal, approaching mild. OCD is also somewhat common in those with high-functioning autism but not the case for me.

and as someone wrrote earlier, autism is not considered a mentall illness akin to anxiety or depression, but a neurobiological disorder – a developmental disorder/disability

Yes. On meds and therapy. I have been dealing with it for most of my adult life. I’m so sick of the self-righteous bullshit spewed by the uneducated about how and why people have mental illness. As if having an optimistic attitude and growing-up can change a medical condition. I really miss dpworkin.

Diagnosed by me. I have anxiety at times and my daughter has proclaimed me “nuts.” I think anxiety is a mental illness, right? GAD.
(generalized anxiety disorder)

Sure. A lot of mine are kind of caused by others, though. Diagnoses that are officially in my medical records: agoraphobia/panic disorder/social anxiety disorder, OCD, dysthymia/menacholic depression, SAD (in “reverse”), and gender identity disorder. And those are, I think, the cause of my impulse disorders (BFRB—trichotillomania, nail-biting, skin-picking, chewing my tongue and the insides of my mouth) and sleep disorders (night terrors, sleep talking, exploding head syndrome).

I’m on a drug cocktail that works well enough that I can leave the house for therapy (and other doctor’s appointments) and don’t actively want to kill myself. I’ve had most of these problems for nearly twenty years now. The agoraphobia is newer but I’ve even been dealing with that for going on eight years. I’m not outstandingly hopeful about ever totally getting over any of it. But the medication I’m on and my therapy sessions help to make it all a bit more manageable.

@MacBean
They manifest in your psyche as caused by others but of course they originate within. People are just being people.

Aspergers Syndrome, not diagnosed until my late 40s. This is not strictly a mental illness, but is widely perceived to be. It is more of a “hardware” than “software” issue and is incurable, although treatable to a variable extent depending on age.

I’m emerging from my second round of Clinical Depression (reactive, situational).

@stardust
diagnoses aren’t labels. They are helpful when it comes to treatment, but they dont define people. Diagnoses help psychiatrists know what people have in common, but the important info is how people are unique, especially in the way the experience their illnesses.

@Zyx I disagree with your assessment of diagnosis. Even with a late diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome (too late for any significant treatment), just knowing what it is brings me some peace of mind. I can now consciously avoid certain situations where previously I was doing this hit-or-miss by intuition.

A few years ago I was “diagnosed” with dression and GAD. I feel like the depression thing was bit of a cop out on the doctors part because I got the impression that he didn’t actually know why I was the way I am and so just put me on anti-depressants. I have good days and bad days but I try not to take any medication now. I am a very anxious (often paranoid) person and that hasn’t changed in years.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land What can I say, everything I’ve experienced leads me to say ANY power corrupts absolutely. Making psychology a bad idea.

Then again, if you feel better now, good for you.

@Zyx Being properly treated for depression saved my life on two occasions.

Okay… I have several things to address:

@Zyx: Diagnosis is the BEST thing that can happen to someone, but only if they follow through with treatment. If you’ve been diagnosed, you’ve seen a professional, and if you don’t follow through correctly, then essentially the worst thing that happened to you is simply yourself.

@Coloma: The fact that you can say that kids grow out of depression shows that you’ve no real comprehension of mental illness. “Depression” is not a word to be thrown around lightly. Kids grow out of teenage angst. Depression is not to be grown out of. Depression is a diagnosis and a real issue.

@stardust: Your diagnosis is only a label if you choose to make it who your whole identity.

I agree that there is a lot of misunderstanding about mental illnesses. We always say that you can’t understand how bad depression is until you’ve been in one. While that maybe true, it must be enormously frustrating for people who have never been in one and want to help those who are depressed.

The problem is that many solutions proposed essentially blame the victim, which is not helpful. Victims of depression often blame themselves quite enough for feeling the way they do. In many cases, they feel so bad about it, them make themselves much worse because of their shame for being unable to get better.

I, too, found it comforting to have a label for what I was going through. People kept on telling me it wasn’t my fault. I had a brain chemistry imbalance. In theory, I felt they were right, but in practice I have always felt like I’m me, so when I’m sick, I’m still me. This means that I have a hard time believing the brain chemistry hypothesis. Why would I not be sick all my life and then get sick now? It has been the same brain all along.

I spent a lot of time online while I was sick, talking about what I was going through. That helped me understand and find others who were experiencing the same things. I’m grateful for that. It also established a habit which is good and bad. I write as much as I can now, and I have been getting better at it. Not good enough for me, but better.

It is quite an adventure. I think I am lucky having come so far out of it. I hope I can be lucky enough to stay well.

@poofandmook I don’t think I like your tone. My love of hyperboly, which on the internet might be mistaken for stupidity, has gotten me into arguments before. So I’d like to clarify that I know that some and maybe even most people benefit from diagnosis. But basically telling me it’s my own damn fault (especially in a thread like this) doesn’t seem right either. I haven’t even told you what happened yet. Well, I really shouldn’t say “yet”.

@Zyx: Well, I didn’t like your tone, so I guess we’re even. Bottom line is that you made several blanket statements that are inaccurate, as almost all blanket statements are.

There is always help available if one cares to try hard enough to find it. The professional who diagnosed you doesn’t offer any treatment? What, is it like a bookmobile? A diagnosesmobile? They go around handing out diagnoses but leave you on your own to deal with it? If that professional doesn’t give that kind of help, that professional can surely point you to a professional who does offer that kind of help, and it is up to you to seek out the help.

Essentially what I’m saying is, that if you do not seek out help, then the diagnosis isn’t your problem. You are your problem. Unless you’re a minor. In which case, your guardians are your problem.

My statement was based on your statement. I’m sorry, but I’m not wearing my psychic hat today, so I can’t magically know everything you MEANT to say, but didn’t. I based what I said solely on what you said.

incidentally… your school, unless it’s private and you pay tuition, cannot legally kick you out for being mentally ill. So, that’s not really an excuse. And, you don’t invent a religion due to mental illness. You choose to believe some stuff.

“as almost all blanket statements are.

There is always help available if one cares to try hard enough to find it.”

I’m sorry, I’m leaving you.

The Honeymoon is over..

@poofandmook

All I am saying is that a lot of younger people experience less satisfying levels of happiness, and do often outgrow their angst and periodic bouts of depression.
It has been proven that younger people as a whole experience less life satisfaction and well being than the middle aged slice of the population.

Infact it has been shown that overall happiness and well being peaks in one’s fifties, for example.

Obviously serious depression needs attention and intervention regardless of age, but, there is truth in what I say, not every young person that experiences some depression or impulsive behaviors or whatever is destined to a life of mental illness.

People do tend to get happier as they get older, this is a fact.

Obviously the truly mentally ill would not show these normal developmental improvements.

I agree with @Coloma on this. My mid-fifties happiness was violently interrupted by the death of a loved one, but is now returning as I realize what my true role in life is.

I’ve never been diagnosed with a mental illness, because nobody took me to the doctor.
but two years ago, I was so depressed, but at home, my parents were too busy, shouting at eachother (and me, but I hadn’t done anything bad) and I had my depression and their fights and stupid ideas to make my life miserable. anyway. they didn’t even notice. but everyone at school did, I was the depressed kid. I’m not sure about how it started. was it my grandfather’s death, was it my parents driving me crazy, was it just me….? I don’t remember how it started, anyway.
and then, last summer, I was depressed, again. and when they wanted to take me to the doctor, I didn’t go, because I just couldn’t make myself get up. it was hard for me to even breathe. but I got over that, after a while.
and last year, I had a big problem with school, I never knew how it was called. each time someone made me go there, I started crying like a baby. I never knew why, I just wanted to get out of that place.
now I’m better, I’ve replaced the tears with anger, so I just get angry and, mostly, bored. lol.

and, when I thought that everything was ok, there was the cloud in the sky: I broke up with my boyfriend. you know, I was in tears all day, I was really sad.
but anyway, I got over that (well, him) too, and….

now, I can finally say that I’m okaaaay :)

well, not exactly, but, I don’t have any real problems. I just hate myself, it’s not a big deal

I’ve recently been diagnosed Bi-Polar 2 mixed severe. I’m actually glad for that diagnoisis because people understand (most people!) that, and also post injury epilepsy. They
understand and know that
some of the problems I have
are from these illnesses. Very
few people understand what a
Brain Injury is, or what such a severe one does to a person.
I am still very much the same
as I was before inside, but
that’s not readily apparent
unless you knew me before, or
spend time with me now.

I have gone inpatient for my psych problems now for the second time. This was mainly to adjust all of my meds. I’m finally coming off Serequel
now! Everything that it
supposedly does positively, for
me it acts exactly the
opposite. I don’t know why,
but I find new side-effects for
most meds they try on me. It
makes for MAJOR problems for my doctors. It could be from my TBI, I wasn’t on any
meds before, though, so it never was an issue then.