A question Does bipolar people also faces negative symptoms of SZ

i am way confused my bioplar and sz … reason number one positive symptoms are disorganiz thought and i have all the negatative symtoms …what is my real diagnosis…!!!
PLease help its out guys for my diagnosis… niraj kafle

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Yes people diagnosed with bipolar can face lack of motivation and lack of pleasure.
It’s part of how they feel when Depression hits them.
Sometimes the depression is not even noticeable but they still have no or little motivation.

Also the meds can affect them and drain their energy.

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I have a bi polar cousin, she uses the term manic to describe her psychosis. She talks 100 mph too, stays awake for days. Then she crashes into a deep depression and won’t get out of bed. That’s what I understand bi polar to be.

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It’s not a symptom listed in the diagnostic manuals, but depression can mimic negative symptoms and also the diagnostic manuals are not perfect descriptions of mental illnesses. There is a lot of overlap between bipolar and schizophrenia and it’s very likely that many people who fit better in the bipolar category also experience negative symptoms. But traditionally, negative symptoms indicate that the patient should get a diagnosis on the schizophrenia spectrum and not the bipolar spectrum.

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so it mean negative sympoms indicator that the patient get a diagnosed on the schizophrenia spectrum…

Yes. :slight_smile: But it probably depends on how prevalent and constant they are and how the rest of the patient’s symptoms fit with each diagnosis. You should ask an expert to formally diagnose you.

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Yeah I agree @anon9798425 there is a lot of overlap.
That fits my situation

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I think that there are negative symptoms in bipolar but they tend to go away vs the negative symptoms in schizophrenia that last a long time. I’m not sure where schizoaffective fits into that.
Bipolar definitely has cognitive symptoms that are very similar to schizophrenia I’m living proof of that.

I read a post on a forum from a guy who had bipolar and all the negative symptoms of sz.

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Honestly I could have bipolar with some SZ symptoms like Negative Symptoms.
Like @anon9798425 mentioned there is a lot of overlap between the two disorders.

Psychiatry is full of grey areas.

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there might be possible shared symptoms between schizophrenia and bipolar.

but you should talk to your doctor, for more official clarification.

Yes, but with bipolars it’s not called negative symptoms. It’s called depression.

I agree with you Nicehat.

The cognitive symptoms in bipolar are caused from depression.

Psychiatrists can definitely tell the difference between a bipolar person, a schizophrenic person and a schizoaffective person. No grey areas. I am a former R.N.

I’m not necessary talking about depression.
You can be diagnosed with bipolar but still suffer with some SZ symptoms but not enough to merit a Schizoaffective diagnosis.

Again, psychiatry is very murky.

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That would seem to make sense. Considering that a high dose of Prozac lets me think again. But the meds cause cognitive deficits on their own too.

That’s not always the case. I’ve been diagnosed as schizoaffective twice because the psychiatrists keep mistaking a comorbid diagnosis of body dismorphic disorder for psychosis. OCD and psychosis are hard to tease appart sometimes. There’s even a new diagnosis called schizo-obsessive disorder.

I also have OCD on top of my bipolar disorder/SZA diagnoses.
She said that people with OCD can become Psychotic at times.

Yeah its the “depression” part in a former official name of bipolar disorder - “manic depression”. I think you need to have at least two recognizable episodes of both to be diagnosed as ‘bipolar’.
I have no idea what differentiate it from sz. Maybe the ‘paranoid’ part? Or voices, visual hallucinations. I never had those. And as times goes I’m definitely more on the depressive than manic side. All I get now ( speaking of sober state) is a mild hypomania.