I am seeing a psychiatrist through the public system. He continually tells me I am well now after 15 months. I get so perplexed by his reasonings I decided to write down my moods every day for a month and show him what I go through each day. I refuse to believe I am “well now” and will not give up until I get the message through that I need something to change because I am not normal.
It’s an interesting exercise and I highly recommend it especially because you can get in touch with your own moods and feelings and you can show people exactly what is going on in your life on a day to day basis.
SCALE I HAVE USED
0-3 = mild, 4-6 = moderate, 7-10 = extreme
To view my symptoms click on the “Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder” page in the header of my blog. Let me know what you think.
It’s been interesting to see how my period affects my bipolar symptoms too. I really need to see a specialist in this area as well.
Due to this symptoms list I have made I took the initiative to call my local health centre in the hope of getting some cheap counselling. While they could not counsel me as I had a mental illness they recommended a local doctor to me who could do a mental health plan so I could receive a goverment rebate for psychological services from the psychologist of my choice.
I went along to the appointment which at my pressuring lasted 45 minutes (he was dying to get me out the door to see his other patients), didn’t get my mental health plan but did get a referral to a new psychiatrist.
Today I rang the new psychiatrist that i’ll be seeing on Friday to find out how long my appointment would last for and I was told 45 minutes to 1 hour. I nearly fell off my seat! My current psychiatrist never sees me for that long. I get 10-15 minutes at the MOST. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll bring along my list of symptoms and hopefully it will allow him to treat me accordingly.
What a relief, it’s not just me! I’ve been trying to get a proper diagnosis for 12 years. I know that there is something more behind my huge mood swings, and have finally seena professor who gave a clear Bipolar 1 diagnosis. The trouble now is convincing my usual psychiatrist that he is correct. Time for a new one who actually wants to help instead of argue. Why are they so reluctant to treat the obvious?
I’ve had that problem too — by that I mean people thinking I’m fine because they only see me at my best, for some lousy reason, lol. I use a -3 to +3 scale, that way 0 is the tipping point for me and my range of “normal” (normal defined by me” is -1 to +1. It’s very helpful to chart moods for your own use as well. Like you my period has an effect, sometimes a substantial one. I’m trying to determine my patterns.
I’m curious to read how the upcoming appointment goes!
Anita