You know - I dont think my psychiatrist is being up front with me or maybe she is? I am confused.
She told me verbally a few times that I have bipolar disorder - probably type 1 mixed variety - she mentioned that certain people living with bipolar sometimes suffer from psychosis when they are depressed or manic - bipolar type 1
But I swear to you I think she kept my old diagnosis - Schizoaffective disorder on paper for the Insurance company
I really dont know what to believe now - my old pdoc did the same thing at some point - writes down Schizoaffective but tells me that I suffer from bipolar - does it matter? I am really perplexed as to why this happens and what do I believe?
and is this common practice among pdocs? this is confusing 
hi wave you know what she might not know herself, schizophrenia and bipolar are brother and sister illness’
they interweave and intermingle so much don’t get hung up on the label your still you she might not know herself yet.
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You know you are right @dandydinmot thank you for your supportive reply - but it is just frustrating - I know I am more than my label - but it is frustrating and confusing for me - I am sure that she is confused herself - I am seeing this more and more - all these docs that I have seen cannot come up with a direct and concrete answer, they just dont have a clue it seems. I think that they should diagnose people on their symptoms only and scrap the old way of labeling people - the diagnostic system really sucks the way it is now!
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yeah it does sound frustrating for you maybe they just need a bit more information and time i was told i had psychosis for years and years all the time being out of my head crazy they didn’t want to “label me”
it might have helped me if id known it was me that was mad and not everyone else LOL
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The label doesn’t really matter but finding the right help is important
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Yeah I honestly dont think she gives a â– â– â– â– about my dx - she is treating my symptoms with the right meds it seems
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it does not matter…she is treating the current symptoms…
my diagnoses is changing all the time thanks to the cbt therapy…i am not worried about it.
you are going through a hard time…therefore over-thinking.
i do the same thing…know some one cares.
take care
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You have told me many times that as long as my doc is giving me what I need to make it through my day… the label doesn’t matter.
I know it would be great to have something solid to hold on to. But I’m beginning to think it depends on the day as far as what my doc sees.
somedays… he’s an inch away from changing my diagnosis. Other days… he’s not. I’m trying not to let this get to me. Some of me would like a committed answer. But other bits of me are thinking that just might not be possible.
@dandydinmot, that’s a nice way to put it. Watching my youngest brother fight through Bioplar 1… he’ll slip into a psychosis while manic. I am beginning to think that bipolar and Sz have a lot in common.
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Just take the medicine and don’t care what they call it. I am a “chronic paranoid schizophrenic” but my doctor treats me for anxiety and aggression as well as psychosis. Im on a beta blocker and an anxiolytic. A normal person would be in what looks like a coma if they took my medication, but I am far from catatonic so I clearly need my meds
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Hi J - I guess i am going to have to accept the fact that I am some kind of hybrid - my doctor kind of took me by surprise - and I do trust her judgement she is a very smart lady - I did not completely understand her answer but I kind of got the gist of it - she explained to me that as a whole - long term, I present myself to be schizoaffective - I guess she included functionality - but she also mentioned that I present myself as bipolar - I guess what this really means is that she cannot make up her mind or that I am actually both depending on the circumstances - she said to me (and this is what surprised me really) that sza and bipolar can be the same thing - go figure - My OCD wants me to put things neatly into a box - and I guess sometimes a diagnosis does not fit in there perfectly
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I completely understand that… for years I was mad at my doc and diagnosis for “Undifferentiated” I thought that was so made up… what a “clap-trap” diagnosis I thought.
Am I paranoid or disorganized? Which is it… it shouldn’t be that hard… but then I found that there was an actual sub category of Undifferentiated Sz. For those folks like me who just don’t fit neatly into any box.
So If I end up on the boarders between SZ and Schizoaffective… I guess it just proves I’m not the type to be packaged neatly. That might be a good thing. I don’t fit neatly in other people’s boxes 
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I don’t really see the difference between the two dx. One is bipolar 1 with psychosis while the other is SZA with bipolar. I guess it depends on which is the primary dx the bipolar or the psychosis.
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That’s basically what they do now. My therapist told me the only reason they need the name or “official diagnosis” is so they can prescribe you medicine or so you can get disabilities benefits if you need them.
Basically the name isn’t so important anymore.
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You know what @Anna this makes a whole lot of sense too - thank you for this 
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