Furious Seasons: Comment on Keep Naming The New Bipolar Disorder

Comments: Keep Naming The New Bipolar Disorder

I don't have a name, but sounds like a pretty good disease to me. No depression, a "light" hypo mood, and that's it? Where do I sign up and how much does it cost? :-)

Posted by KansasSunflower at May 15, 2007 07:30 PM

It's clumsy, yes, but straitforward:

Subthreshold Aripiprazole Deficiency Syndrome

SADS... uh... maybe not. I think the name or something like it is already taken.

Posted by Dr X at May 16, 2007 06:49 AM

i think this illness should be called Bergeron Syndrome (b.s.) after Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron". A story set in a future time where everyone in America will be equal (in inteligence, strength, beauty, etc. . .) because the gov't mandates and enforces handicapping anyone born superior to the norm.
-j

Posted by jenna at May 16, 2007 05:47 PM

NECHAMI - Now Everybody Can Have A Mental Illness

Posted by Connie at May 18, 2007 11:24 PM

SHPD - Shiny Happy People Disorder; also referred to as MSS - Michael Stipe Syndrome. Just having fun . . . :)

Posted by Connie at May 18, 2007 11:41 PM

BPW....bipolar wannabe

HDRVD...hot damn, rehab vacation disorder

PDNMO...pdocs need mo' money

PCMUS...phamra co. makin' up shit

Posted by UM at May 21, 2007 09:02 AM

SOBD - Severe Opportunist Bullshit Disorder, perhaps? Honestly, I did not know that Bipolar III is a newly crowned and created "disorder" which, based on some reading I've done in the past three years, basically sounds like cyclothymia. When was this new disorder named, and has it been voted into the DSM-IV? As long as psychiatrists keep coming up with new "disorders" and skillfully manipulate language, there will obviously be more drugs on the market manufactured, distributed, and administered at the dire expense of the general public.

I myself was diagnosed with Bipolar II seven years ago, which I believed was legitimate at the time of diagnosis, but which I believe today and in recent months is complete bullshit. After further reading, I wonder if, like some of you that have written in on related blogs, experienced a sort of seratonin poisoning which upset my brain chemistry and moods after four years of Zoloft and Wellbutrin use prior to the Bipolar II diagnosis. Soon after diagnosis, I was put on a couple of anti-psychotic drugs that I reacted horribly to - Zyprexa and Depakote - the reactions to which I found very frightening in the latter. I experienced such severe anxiety that being dead seemed like the better alternative, as screwed up as that sounds. I ended up in a psych ward for a suicide attempt, where I was put on more drugs - a mixture of mood stabilizers and anti-convulsants that was added on to the Zoloft and Wellutrin.

So having gone through a lot of unnecessary shit and having witnessed a whole host of "disorders" come to light since my traumatic experiences - social anxiety disorder, PMDD, ADHD, to name a few, in my opinion - it is very easy for me to believe that this Bipolar III, which I just gained wind of an hour ago, is complete bullshit and just another opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry to unconscionably make billions more dollars at the expense of rather healthy or mildly inflicted individuals. Also, there seems to be a trend of creating new disorders involving milder and milder depressive symptoms or hyperactive tendencies, such as those disorders aforementioned. Bipolar III just seems to be the newest in this trend.

I am now quite emotionally stable, having stepped down from all anti-psychotics and most anti-convulsants, and feel I am in a conducive environment that will ready me to start stepping down from all meds for good. I have stepped down from medication in the past primarily on my own, since many psychiatrists do not educate patients on tapering - which of course seems to be purely by design.

Becoming drug-free for good is a frightening prospect, as withdrawal symptoms can be quite dangerous particularly among anti-depressants if you're not careful. At least this is what I believe after reading anecdotal accounts on the internet and so far in a book that I am currently reading - Prozac Backlash: Overcoming The Dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Other Antidepressants With Safe, Effective Alternatives, written by Joseph Glenmullen, a clinical psychiatry instructor at Harvard Medical School. It's packed full of information that is far from comfortable, but extremely valuable. Check it out.

While this book seems to be a credible source of information, I'd like to ask: Do any of you guys have any suggestions on how to step down from Zoloft, Wellbutrin SR, and Lamictal (an anti-convulsant used in seizure and bipolar patients)? Just curious. I'll welcome any responses you may have, critical or supportive.

I'm so motivated by fear and anger that this posting has turned out to be quite long. My apologies if I have worn anybody out.

Posted by bollypug at May 28, 2007 08:56 AM

Hi bollypug,

Re Zoloft, I came off that earlier this year. I was on 300mg, and I tried dropping the dose by 25mg every fortnight. But even still, I'd only made it down to 225mg before the withdrawal symptoms kicked in. So, being the impatient kind of person I am, I locked myself away for a couple of weeks and did the rest cold turkey. It wasn't nice - it was like having the flu - and it put me out of action for about a month in total.

Of course, I wouldn't recommend that anyone else do likewise. One thing I subsequently heard is that some of the Zoloft withdrawal symptoms can be avoided during the taper by switching to Prozac, which has a longer half-life, and tapering that instead.

If you haven't already seen it, the blog Bipolar Blast has a lot of resources on tapering/withdrawal and advocates a much more cautious approach than the one I took.

Good luck!

Posted by Ruth at May 28, 2007 08:00 PM