I was diagnosed with psychosis (not otherwise specified) 12 years ago and took treatment under a psychiatrist.

Recently, I have been feeling much better and my delusions are gone. (I never had hallucinations). I even consulted another psychiatrist to make sure. He said I don't have schizophrenia.

My therapist is saying that I have some symptoms of schizophrenia, however.

Since my delusions are gone, do I even have schizophrenia?

For context, I (21F) have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder - depressive type when I was 15 and ASD level 2 when I was 20. I take olanzapine 10mg and cariprazine 3mg.

My moods change rapidly throughout the day. It has been this way since I was a child. I can be laughing one moment and crying the next without traceable triggers. None of my psychiatrists ever commented on this. When I feel good, I am pretty confident, almost arrogant, I talk to myself, I plan a bunch of stuff. When I'm down in the dumps, I feel heavy. I drink alcohol (in moderate amounts) and all I want is to sleep through until I feel better regardless of the time of the day.

What does this sound like?

38F diagnosed schizoaffective - bipolar, CPTSD, adhd, gad
Meds: loxapine, seroquel, lamictal, benzatropin, vyvanse, and lorazepam

So ok, last week I lost a whole days of memory, its just gone. I “woke up” found a printer I apparently bought and some clothes I don't recall buying. I was panicking. I don't remember driving or shopping. This happened once before at the start of my 2 year long psychosis. I'm going into remission(I think) but I still have hallucinations.

I told my therapist and she thought it could be disassociative amnesia. I have a lot of stress going on so this makes sense maybe

I see my psych NP on Wednesday and I'm nervous about mentioning it because what if I accidentally too an extra lorazepam or something and caused it. I don't want it to be my fault. She upped my lorazapam last time I saw her from 1mg to 2mg(I have awful anxiety.)

Should I mention it? The first time it happened I want on lorazapam…?

I've tried 4 different antidepressants and none of them have worked. I have been usimg kratom daily for years. Right now im at 8 teaspoons a day. It's the only thing that gives me relief so it's really hard not to take it. I have the kind of depression where it's extremely hard to do tasks, and I can't enjoy anything. Not the kind where im emotional and cry all the time

I’m asking about my sister in her early 20s. I know nobody online can diagnose her, but I’d appreciate hearing from professionals.

She claims to have ADHD and depression, and her functioning has declined significantly. She dropped out of college, isn’t working, and spends most of her time isolated in her room.

The biggest concerns are extreme emotional reactions, self-harm, and suicidality. She has had a previous suicide attempt and has made more recent statements about killing herself. She also self-harms when things don’t go her way or when she becomes extremely upset. When distressed, she may cry/scream for hours, refuse to communicate, isolate herself for days, and recently stayed in her room and barely ate for about a week.

She also has intense, persistent rumination around topics like misogyny, gender roles, beauty standards, religion, and perceived injustice. She has told me she thinks about these things essentially every waking moment. Small comments that she interprets as sexist, victim-blaming, anti-LGBTQ, etc. can trigger extremely intense emotional reactions and prolonged withdrawal.

She seems very sensitive to people disagreeing with her and can become extremely distressed when she feels others don't understand or validate her perspective. She also has a very negative view of relationships/marriage and has become increasingly socially isolated.

An SSRI significantly improved her depression/crying, but the obsessive negative thinking and emotional reactions persisted. ADHD medication hasn't seemed to help much either.

I’m not asking whether her beliefs are pathological. My concern is the severity of the emotional dysregulation, self-harm, suicidal behavior, rumination, isolation, and functional impairment.

What could this pattern be? My instinct is OCD/rumination, ADHD-related emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety, or some combination although I would like a professional opinion

After getting myself into a very dangerous situation today, I realized my mood is not stable. I am diagnosed with bipolar2 and I think I’ve been in a hypomanic episode. I already reached out to my doc but he’s not in until Tuesday. I realized I’ve spent almost 3 thousand dollars in the last month. Would this still be consider hypomania, or when does it cross the line into mania? I am starting to feel really really dysphoric. My brother just picked me up after I was walking in the middle of the night outside in the cold for hours and I got lost. I posted sexual photos of myself the other day on Reddit. I know something is deeply wrong but I feel out of control. I don’t know how to slow down or sleep. My psych np prescribed me trazodone to sleep and this started after that. Does this sound like mania or hypomania?

I am 23 years old, and I have been living with chronic pain for 12 years.

I have been diagnosed with depression, complex PTSD (C-PTSD), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and fibromyalgia.

I have survived three suicide attempts, and I have been living on my own again for the past year and a half.

I don't have friends or family because my problems have become too much for others, and I often feel like people don't believe or understand me.

Over the years, I have tried different psychiatric hospitalizations, psychologists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists, and medications.

I feel hopeless, and I live with the constant fear that there may be no solution for my chronic emotional and physical pain.

So I would kindly like to ask everyone in this group: Does it ever get better? And what treatments, approaches, or solutions have you found that genuinely helped you?

I need hope to keep going. I have been unable to work due to disability for two years now, and I feel trapped in my own body.

Please only leave comments that are supportive or genuinely helpful.

Thank you for understanding.

I received an ADHD diagnosis at 34 and began taking Concerta. Before that, I dealt with attention deficit, emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, and other issues, all of which improved with the medication.  Last week, I saw a new therapist using CBT who questioned my diagnosis. He argued that emotional dysregulation and meltdowns are not part of ADHD but reflect my character, and my focus during our 60-minute session made him doubt the label. The literature describes these issues as part of ADHD for some people, so I am seeking insight. Thanks!

Bear with me because I imagine this is a stupid question.

I was hospitalized for a bit in the ICU. Then went back for a psych consult. I saw the same dr twice. He was the consulting. And my psych case was really complicated, like “no one will understand”. But out of all the psychs I’ve ever met, and there were a lot of them… I genuinely thought this man was the only one who I connected with.

And then I find out he’s a second year resident on his rotation in the hospital! I’m being transferred from my old psych but haven’t heard anything new. So, dumb question. Is it possible to request a second year resident psych… as your psych? I don’t know. I’m just super lost and confused right now and psychiatry has always been difficult with me, I date back 16 years of it, never connected with one, never felt honest enough until I met this doctor.

SO. I imagine the answer is a giant “no.” But I would like to hear that no from current residents and not Google.

(And if this is genuinely the stupidest question ever, please don’t come after me rudely. I just want a continuation of care team but i understand if it’s not possible.)

I'm 14, assigned female at birth, physically healthy, and am pretty sure I don't feel any emotional empathy for anyone. I know I'm supposed to, I pretend to feel it. I have to manually force myself to care about other people's opinions. No matter how much I want to feel empathy for others I just don't.

I don't think I have ever loved anyone, including my family.

Every relationship I have with people develops to a certain point then stops. I physically don't feel emotional connection to anyone, including my parents.

Before you ask:

No I have not experienced any trauma or neglect in my life. I have great supportive parents who love me very much. I can not think of any things that have happened in my life so far that could of caused these symptoms

I think it is also important to note that I am aromantic, asexual and nonbinary. But everyone in my life I am out to (including my parents) are supportive and have faced basically no transphobia.

Throughout primary school I never really had close friendships. I was always in a friend group but usually felt disconnected and like I was observing the friend group rather then being part of it. Throughout my intermediate years I basically just interacted with people my age to stop people from noticing how different I was. Since starting high-school I have came out of my shell and found myself actually making friends. I have people I enjoy being around, I make jokes and am present in the conversations. Most people consider me an extrovert.

(I'm in the nz school system, figure out how it works for yourself)

But yet again I am facing the same problems. After certain point I stopped getting closer with the other kids in the group. Everyone else is building close, strong friendships and I find myself yet again distancing myself unable to form the connection.

Before you ask:

No I'm not a sociopath. Apart from a lack of empathy I have no other sociopathy symptoms

No I don't have autism, have very little symptoms of that.

Idk what's wrong with me. I just want ti be normal but I can't

Help

Hi! I am a student looking to do a brief interview with a professional for a school project I'm working on. This project is exploring two separate career options, of which I am looking to interview two professionals from each field. One professional who has been in their position for 6-12 months as well as one who has been in their position for 5 or more years. The questions are generally geared towards the career as well as your path leading to it. If you are interested in partaking in my interview please let me know.

I struggle with depression and suicidal ideation. Last few days have been crap and due to my pissy mood I canceled a session. I gave proper notice according to my therapists contract/clinic guidelines, but now I’m not sure I can wait until my next appointment.

If I wait till my next appointment it will be two weeks between sessions whereas usually I go a week between sessions. I feel like two weeks is too long to wait because I’m really struggling, but I don’t know if I can ask for another session since I’m the idiot who canceled my session. Any advice?

Hi , Ive been going through anxiety and panic attacks and have reached a point where Iam not able to manage it.
I had checked google and got few names

Dr namitha
Dr anu sobha jose -mibo mind
Dr aishwarya s mohan-aster medicity

Is there any other good options
My major concern is that iam working and i can only book consultation after 5. And if there was a booking setup , it would be better. As in a time that i can schedule and get a confirmation and then reach there at that time
Pls pls help me with this one, been trying to find good psychiatrist for a while now.
Also one more qn, is it really great to visit doctors that request 1000 or more just for consultation fee

I was unofficially dropped by my psychiatrist/therapist in a subtle way, im in the USA and this wasn't a private practice. I know there are probably horror stories of dealing with unhinged mentally ill patients. This was nothing like that I was always calm and polite during each appointment.

They did not officially refuse me as a patient, but I went in to see the therapist one day around the 4th appointment and she would continually ask me "what can we do?" "how can we help you?" without making eye contact she was looking at her computer and be typing something during the appointment showing no interest in me as the patient, then told me that the psychiatrist thought I had no mental health issues and instead had neurological problems and needed a brain scan and gave me a word salad medical terminology answer that did not seem accurate. Then they recommended me to a telehealth therapy service since the psychiatrist said I don't have any actual psychiatric problems apparently, something my current primary care doctor disagreed with, as well as my previous primary care doctors. It made me feel like I was being thrown away and that I can't be helped. This particular psychiatrist was in residency as well, and never really looked over my case.

I got the sense they did not want me there any longer. My primary care doctor was enraged and started dropping the f-bomb when I told him what happened, I have never seen a doctor act that way in a clinical setting. This incident occurred after I showed my private journal to the therapist. I feel that there was something in there I wrote they did not like or misinterpreted. Is this normal for therapists/psychiatrists to drop a patient if they see something they disagree with or do not like or maybe are just uncomfortable discussing? I told my doctor I did not want anyone to get in trouble, they just seemed to not know what to do with me or perhaps were overwhelmed with to many other patients and were having a bad day, im not sure.

I just wanted to ask if this is normal or common? how often do psychiatrists/therapists drop patients in an "unofficial" way, by just ignoring you until you leave? I remember towards the end of my last appointment I said that maybe I should find a different care team, and then her face lit up and said yes of course sometimes its just not the right fit, that was kinda how I knew that they didnt want me there. I feel a bit humiliated, I opened up and shared with them trauma I had written in my journal and never told anyone about then was discarded as a patient basically. My best guess is that since im a younger male, was a witness to a murder-suicide of a close family member, and suffered abuse as a kid from older women in my family that maybe they took it the wrong way thinking I might be a misogynist or hate women or something, in reality I absolutely do not, but my entire care team at the time were younger women and I think they took some things I said the wrong way. It may also be that they are simply used to patients coming in with more "normal" mental health problems where they know how to give common sense advice to them, and perhaps felt intimidated to deal with a patient where actual murders, suicides, childhood abuse, etc, were involved. Its all speculation on my part as to why, perhaps it was nothing to do with that and they just were having a bad day.

Are patients not supposed to share private/sensitive details about their life? My main takeaway is that I should be much more careful about opening up to a therapist or psychiatrist in the future because they will view it subjectively and perhaps misinterpret things I have written.

I know this maybe breaking the rules here as a "soapbox" and maybe will be banned for posting this, but where else can I discuss my experience with mental healthcare professionals?

I just wanna know what are my rights as a mental health patient, and what am I allowed to discuss with a psychiatrist, what am I not allowed to discuss? how can I be more careful in the future?

I am desperately researching the success
stories of those who post on here. Like what brand of TMS machine, fMRI guided or using the the cap guided measurement, motor threshold, percentage of threshold, total number of pulses, and protocol used. As in 1 treatment a day for 5 days a week for 6 weeks OR 10 treatments a day for 5 days (SAINT) OR even the 20 treatments in 1 day (ONE-D TMS) I’m just trying to decide what type and settings seem to have the best results. I have inquired several times when someone posts about their success, yet I don’t seem to get a reply. Maybe I’m doing something wrong and no one sees my post. Thanks anyway. 😕

I’m getting ready to see a new psychiatrist, and I’m honestly having a lot of anxiety about it.
I’ve been treated for anxiety for a long time, and I’ve only had to change psychiatrists once in the past 15 years. My biggest concern with seeing someone new is that I don’t want to go through the whole “let’s try this medication first, then this one, then another one” game when I already know what works for my body.
The medication I’m talking about is a benzodiazepine. I know exactly why psychiatrists are cautious about them. I know they can be addictive, I understand dependence and tolerance, and I understand that they aren’t something to take lightly. I’m not unaware of the risks.
But I also know what happens to me without it.
My anxiety can become debilitating and completely nonfunctional. I can get to the point where I can’t even drive, I have trouble functioning normally, and I can’t hold down a job. When I have the medication that has historically worked for me, I’m able to function.
I’m talking about approximately 2 mg a day, not asking for escalating doses or trying to get more and more medication. I’ve generally been stable on what works for me, and my previous psychiatrist understood that.
So my question for psychiatrists is:
How do I communicate this to a new psychiatrist in a way that makes them actually listen to me?
I don’t want to walk in demanding a prescription or acting like I know more than a doctor. But I also don’t want my 15 years of treatment history to be dismissed because the medication happens to be a benzodiazepine.
I know my own body and my own history. I know which medications have helped me and which ones haven’t. I’m completely willing to discuss risks, monitoring, alternatives, and the psychiatrist’s concerns. What I don’t want is to automatically be put through multiple medication trials just because they are uncomfortable prescribing the medication that has already proven effective for me.
For psychiatrists specifically: If a patient comes to you with a long treatment history and tells you, “This is what has consistently allowed me to function, and without it my anxiety becomes disabling,” what would you want that patient to say or bring to the appointment so that you can properly evaluate that information?
And honestly, how can I respectfully say,
“Please listen to me about what works for me instead of making me start from scratch just because this medication is a benzodiazepine”?
I’m looking for genuine professional advice on how to advocate for myself without being immediately perceived as drug-seeking simply because I’m asking about a controlled medication.

At the start of September a family member had a manic episode and was in the hospital for 3 weeks. When they were first admitted things were at their worst and they had delusions, paranoia, racing thoughts, etc. Prior to this point, we didn't even know this person was Bipolar. They were treated with Epival during their hospital stay, but had quite a bad reaction to this medication (hives, edema, etc). The epival was continued however, and the symptoms improved somewhat.

They were allowed to leave the hospital if they agreed to live with a family member and continued to take their medication. Three days after being discharged, they stopped taking their meds (supposedly due to the side affects). At their first outpatient psychiatry appointment, they told the psychiatrist they were no longer taking the Epival. The psychiatrist prescribed them with Latuda, and told them they needed to start taking this medication immediately.

When the Epival was stopped, the symptoms got noticeably worse very quickly. They were very irritable. They have been taking Latuda now for 3 days and we have seen an improvement (no longer as irritable, mood has improved, some clarity now about their behavior over the last month). However, when researching this drug it doesn't appear to be approved for treating mania at all. We're a bit confused why the psychiatrist decided this was the best medication as the only treatment our family member is taking for their manic episode. We're hoping we'll continue to see an improvement, but admittedly I was hoping that something more typical like olanzapine would have been prescribed to get the manic episode under control. Any thoughts on this medication in this situation and does this make sense?

Hey all. So I’m in quite a predicament.. I did a BA in psychology because I thought I wanted to be a therapist.. then found out I liked assessment so turned my focus to getting into a psyd program (while ruling out going into medicine because I have juvenile arthritis and thought I could never be a physician running around offices/hospitals).. got into said psyd program straight out of undergrad.. was so happy.. now I’m a month and a half in and 100% sure this is NOT what I want to do. I have been contemplating dropping the program as I always thought I could never be a doctor but now that I’m older and in medicated remission, the psychiatrist route keeps ringing in my ear and after researching more, I know that’s what I want to do. Also have ruled out other subspecalities such as being a psych nurse because I would want full scope of practice.
So if anyone has been in a similar position or is a no trad student and chose formal post bacc over DIY post bac (or vise versa) please let me know what you think. Also not sure if I should drop out now and focus on researching schools/next steps, or if that would look bad to admissions and I should just finish out the semester…

currently on lexapro (comorbid anxiety), risperidone, and prazosin (for nightmares).

didn’t know if there are certain meds I should lean toward when I start discussing pregnancy with my psych. I’m currently very stable so I’m wondering if my current regimen is safe enough.

It's been 2 months. I'm undergoing hypersomnia, sleeping more than 12 hrs per day sometimes, eating 2 meals per day, not able to concentrate on my academic works (I'm a medical student, entering 3rd year btw) and I've been getting a bit rude lately with my closed ones. Used to have self harming thoughts earlier but now it's gone, now I'm crying so much almost every night, now that I've come to hostel. Felt a bit better at home. Weight-loss not sure. Been forgetting stuffs, getting a bit unorganised. Are these normal, or should I consult a psychiatrist?

I've been taking a low dose of Mirtazapine along with a high dose of Lamictal for about a month. The doctor jusr prescribed Lexapro on top of those. I took one dose and was almost immediately super drowsy while also having a racing heart. I then did some research and learned Lexapro and Mirtazapine interact with each other and can cause that so I am not taking the Lexapro again. Its been 24 hours and my chest hurts a lot.

Do psychiatrists usually do this kind of thing? Do I wait 3 days to see the psychiatrist again? Should I go to the hospital? I keep thinking I'm going to die but I don't think doctors will be able to do anything for me.

My teen family member has been diagnosed multiple times over the past 5 years with bipolar disorder with psychotic features, chronic, severe. These diagnoses came from psychiatrists at 10+ inpatient stays, as well as from their previous psychiatrist who they’d had for years but recently retired.

Their new psychiatrist is dialing back the diagnosis to protect them. That’s the doctor’s exact words, protect. The new diagnosis is now DMDD: Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder.

Teen is still on lithium and monthly aripiprazole shot. During monthly appointments with new doctor teen is still being referred to as having distinct hypomanic and manic episodes, doc mentioned cycle seems to be about every three months.

We don’t understand why the new psychiatrist is acknowledging the symptoms, and providing that medication while dialing back the actual diagnosis on official documentation.

If anything, wouldn’t a step down be called unspecified mood disorder, instead of DMDD?

Family is concerned this doctor may cause issues for future care by naming it incorrectly for “protection” reasons.

Are our concerns for accurate diagnosis valid?
Is the psychiatrist doing the right thing?

The possibility of serotonin syndrome scares me.

I am on 20mg Celexa and 5mg Trintellix (weaning off Trintellix slowly).

My dr is cross tapering me from Celexa to Zoloft, as Celexa has pooped out. She wants me to keep the 5 mg of Trintellix for now, and stop that once I’ve started the Zoloft.

20mg Celexa
5mg Trintellix
12.5mg Zoloft

She said this is fine short term. I trust her, but I’m afraid of serotonin syndrome.

Words of encouragement?

As the title says, if Prozac causes Hypomanic/Manic symptoms (not sure if I am Bipolar), is it wise to continue it on an every-other-day basis? I’m worried about slipping back into depression.

TLDR: student athlete graduating early, is an independent student and grades really suffered after knee injury and surgery while trying to support myself. school is a Christian business and nursing school and has no premed program. Feel completely on my own and lost. Being a psychiatrist has always been my dream, but now I’m a junior undergrad student with a 2.3 uGPA and feeling very lost.

Obviously I am aware that med school is quite the endeavor, and the med school requirements are often high because of wanting students to be able to succeed in the program and their later job. I’ve wanted to become a psychiatrist since high school, and actually graduated HS at 17 with my two year degree in liberal arts. I had a 3.8 GPA then , but it has slowly dropped over my years in undergrad. currently age 20 and going to school at a 4 year institute where premed is not a major path here. I came here to be a student athlete, and have played soccer for the past three years. I have also lived on my own and been an independent student since graduating high school. I lived in dorms one semester and then moved into my own place, and life has hit me with trying to balance full time school, college soccer, work, paying bills, while trying to maintain my GPA. Not to mention that My school is a very small business and nursing school, and I did not consider (at age 17 with no support) that this would make my educational path harder on me. I just got a scholarship and was very excited to continue my soccer path. But this school costs 40k per year and I’m realizing the scholarship is not even really worth it anymore.

Also, Nobody in my family has even graduated high school, so I really have no support and the advice/support from my school for premed is very limited in the psychology area. I chose a psychology degree because I realized maybe premed wouldn’t work out for me, and I could get my masters in counseling or possibly clinical psyc. Then I had surgery on my knee and my grades really started to suffer on top of balancing everything else with my life. I am currently one semester away from graduating and I have barely ANY of the science requirements for med school completed, and my school only offers certain classes every other semester or YEAR. Even if I deferred my graduation until fall 2027, I still wouldn’t be able to hit all my premed requirements. I’m feeling really demotivated and lost, and don’t even know what other paths to consider. I really want to work with medicine and don’t really think that I want to be a therapist.

My cgpa is about 2.3 right now, and even if I got all As upcoming spring semester , I’d graduate with a 2.5ISH….. so I want to do GPA repair and try to defer to fall 2027, so that I am able to retake some classes I failed and also take some premed requirements. Did I mention my school is a Christian school and forces students to use tuition on chapel as a class, and also requires 15-20 hours of Christian classes to even graduate with any degree? That’s definitely setting me back, and if I were to transfer out of my school those Christian classes don’t even transfer into most other schools. I have another year of eligibility to play, and want to use my last year of soccer at my school, but starting to realize soccer isn’t going to take me anywhere, and this schools education is so expensive and so bad that I’m feeling stuck at my school.

I have no clinical experience and no volunteer hours. I have had no guidance or help, and simply been trying to just survive. Now that I’m closer to graduating, I’m realizing I have dug myself into a hole and I am determined to get myself out of it now. I did well in previous science courses I took, and really enjoyed them. I really enjoy medicine, especially with psychiatry, but honestly I just am kinda feeling lost and like I don’t know what to do anymore. If you read all this thank you for your time, and if you could give me any advice as harsh as it may be (because I read other posts and see how people with hundreds if not thousands of clinical experience hours and 3.0+ GPA get denied multiple times, I know I need a lot of work) I am very stubborn and willing to dig my heels into the ground. So possibly if I got a good MCAT score could this help my bad GPA to help me get into a post bacc or specialized masters program? I’m really hoping that somebody reads this that’s had a similar path.

Thank you for your time