Help.
A person can't be both. She can be bipolar and have schizoid tendencies...but she can't be BOTH. It is simply NOT POSSIBLE in the terms of diagnosis. There are Axis...
She can be bipolar on axis I, then have tendencies on axis II, or schizophrenic on Axis I, and some mania on axis II, but dual disorders such as those..and such serious ones...it does not happen. It sounds as if..
1. her psychiatrist is bonkers and doesn't know what he is doing...if she has been this way all her life, there is a 'cocktail' (those of us that are on meds refer to this as the 'perfect formula' that makes one sane...but only after MANY trials and errors does a person reach the right combination of drugs that make a difference) that works for her.
2. She is truly schizophrenic with serious bouts of delusion or mania.
3. She is bipolar with schizoid tendencies.
I think she needs to be diagnosed AGAIN, and she might need shock treatment and the right cocktail of meds. Some medications for bipolar effective disorder INDUCE mania after a time...(the brain becomes used to them..)(same as some prescripts for depression)..which would not work with her condition. Some prescripts for schizophrenia simply WOULD NOT work with people that are bipolar. Either she would walk around in a 'haldol haze' (another term) and be completely dysfunctional or she would be just kookie all the time and it have NO effect.
This bothers me. She needs help, but I don't think she is getting adequate treatment because I don't even KNOW her, yet I know this diagnosis is faulty.
The real question is why people with mental disorders are treated like second class citizens, and recieve sub-par treatment, even medically...sure, they have issues...but that does not mean that they are any different than anyone else that has problems or a disorder or disease. This one is just in your head, not your physical body perse.
Yes, they still do shock therapy...but usually only for people that CANNOT be treated adequately through other means. Usually people who just won't snap out of a depression or people that are very, very manic. BUT...they give you a shot of 'calming' medication before that, they put a bite pad in your mouth, make you all comfie-sometimes you even take a short nap. It takes about 10 mins total. Then you are done. It really does make a difference in some patients. It is not as inhumane as it used to be....waaaayyyyy waaaayyy back. It is NOT like they portray it in movies. ECT is usually used as a last resort now, not a common treatment.
(yes, I've been making my psychiatric ward rounds with my practicums, can't ya tell???)
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