Needing Advice with Communicating Symptoms

Hi all,

I have been in and out of therapy and evaluations and mental health professionals for years now on and off. My mother and a few friends think I may have bipolar disorder. Some suggest BPD. Regardless, nothing seems to be helping me. I have been evaluated and told that I am anxious and depressed but I don’t feel like that fits me. Anxious yes, depressed no. My mood swings are rapid and uncontrollable (so it seems) and I can be super hyper, talkative, on top of the world, etc one minute and completely shut down and withdraw the next. Or I can become highly irritable and snap at loved ones without warning. I often tell my friends I don’t have good days and bad days but good hours and bad hours. On top of this I feel highly sensitive and out of control in general. I really strongly desire to feel more in control of my life but none of these professionals are helping. I feel like I am not conveying my thoughts well enough to them despite saying everything I’ve said here. They simply tell me I’m depressed and put me on Zoloft. I have a long history of abuse and only went into therapy for it two years ago despite it happening during early childhood to 13. I am a few months away from 18 now. I have worked through my trauma multiple times and I understand it well and I even forgive my abusers however these symptoms still persist.

Any advice on what I should say or what might be up? Thank you

I also have anxiety - I take Klonopin .5mg/night
I also have mood swings, depression, mania, and psychosis - I take Lithium (mood stabilizer) and Invega (anti-psychotic).
I would try therapy and meditation/yoga/exercise/eating healthy/sleeping plenty first before resorting to a chemical solution unless your symptoms get worse. Try to be very conscious of your symptoms and write them down in a journal for your psychiatrist/psychologist. Recognizing bad thoughts and actively ignoring them or thinking about them differently can be helpful. If it is Bipolar you probably will need meds but you may benefit from therapy. I've heard that therapy is helpful for BPD but meds can help too.

It's hard to diagnose mental health disorders since so many symptoms overlap. I myself was only diagnosed after having a psychotic episode. This was after already seeing various mental health professionals.

I'm not a professional but in my opinion, it could be borderline personality disorder more so than bipolar disorder.

Have you tried keeping a thought journal for a week or two and bringing that into your sessions?

Don't give up on getting a proper diagnosis. You'll get there, sometimes these things just take time to work out.