Bipolar vs other stuff

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The new Psychiatrist in DC attacked my autism and PTSD and said I just have bipolar type II because, he said, "you don't strike me as autistic."

So prescribed lamictal and letudo. Is there any chance he could be right?

I can't say whether he's right or not, but keep this in mind... Bipolar is very over-diagnosed by phychiatrists because it's one of the only conditions that can be treated somewhat reliably by medication, and have that medication covered by insurance. Bipolar also started being diagnosed before most other conditions, and shares a lot of surface traits of other conditions.

Just a question... is this psychiatrist sort of old in age?
I ask this because from my experiences, they may be less likely to notice other conditions because their initial training focused more on bipolar, before the time of understanding a lot of other conditions as well as today. A younger phychiatrist or psychologist can sometimes have a better understanding of conditions simply because psychological study has progressed so far in a relatively short amount of time recently, and the schooling/training for it is quite different than it was 30 or even 20 years ago.

Even Bipolar is a lot better understood these days, and having gone through a psychology degree recently, I can see why older professionals sometimes just aren't equipped with as accurate understanding about it, even though they may have decades of job experience.

But here's something simple that might help... a good way to spot bipolar fairly accurately is basically if the high/low mood swings follow a fairly predicatable time-based pattern, and aren't simply reactive in nature.

Get a second opinion. I don't like people deciding someone has this "mental illness" because they obviously don't have "this." It makes no sense.

What's letudo?I was once prescribed Lamictal,watch out for any weird skin problems.
My shrink now wants me to be tested,He says I may not be bi- polar.I will do that in late Aug.The remark he made was "you talk a lot like an Autistic person."But did he mean I talk too much,or the mannerism?I wish I asked him.And you can be both.

absolute BS pyschology from that doctor,theres a huge difference between even severe bipolar and any level of autism.
developmental history,age of recognisation/onset,triad of impairments are just several major aspects that blow them apart.

please get a referal to a pysch who is experienced in seeing ASD in adults,am sure if put specifics in on here someone from the same area may be able to recommend someone.

PS.its common on the spectrum to have had [lifelong] difficulties with emotional regulation,this can 'look' like bipolar, am living with someone who is wrongly diagnosed with bipolar; he cycles through 'moods' faster than ultra ultra cycling, the stupid doc had labeled him bipolar and stuck him on a bunch of anti pyschotics when he is a arabic speaker with autism and LD and none of his family can have conversations in english to actualy say what he is like-he was diagnosed on one quick visit, he has emotional regulation difficulties as part of the autism, he tells staff throughout the day that his head is bad because it directs the attention on to him and because he has severe anxiety of transitions which shows in repetition of certain questions or points of his he likes asking over and over and over throughout the day- one of the main ones being to repeat that his head is bad [though it isnt,its just repeating it because of anxiety of going home].
am a fellow resident and saw all this in him,why the hell cant the specialists who train in this stuff spend more time
asessing their clients before labeling them one way or another?

specialists dont realise they are playing with clients lives,to a certain degree.

When I was a kid they thought that all Autistics were nonverbal,so I slipped thru the cracks.
I could remember and recite whole songs.People thought I was a bratty kid,I stimmed,still do,and all the other mannerisms,all tags had to be cut out,if you did not get the seams in my socks just so I would scream and roll around,I waved my arms,liked to spin,etc.
My doc says I would have been tested if I was a child today.I guess better late than never,and it helps me to forgive the teachers who were most likely exasperated with me.I had real problems learning to read and write.Then presto,once I could visualize the written word,I became the fastest reader in my class.But I can't do Algebra,the formulas just float out of my head.Even with a tutor I got a F.This was hard on me because most of my classes were advanced,so I felt so stupid about math.

Well I don't know if you have Bipolar II, but I remember that you wrote a while ago about Borderline PD and complex-PTSD and you were sure those were right.

Here is a bit more critical view about Bipolar: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mat ... borderline

I just noticed that you are trying to find the disorders that you have, read into them and get all exited if you think you are on the right track and start to explain all your symptoms through those disorders you think might fit.

In the past it was more personallity disorders and especially Borderline PD, than complex PTSD after an expert diagnosed you with that and now Bipolar.

That's at least how I noticed it.

For awhile we had rotating Psychiatrists,every new one would change meds,change diagnosis and you never had time to build trust.Same for the therapists,I'd get one and then after six months or so,I'd get a new one.Things are better now that I use a different clinic.I've had the same ones now for a couple years,I'm just now feeling comfortable being myself around them.