Posted by psychobot5000 on May 11, 2012, at 20:46:54
In reply to Re: Melancholic vs Atypical depression » psychobot5000, posted by SLS on May 11, 2012, at 6:26:42
Emmanuel, you may well be right, that the labeling is not necessarily precise or useful.
Scott, I did not know there were so many types of bipolar. I have taken mood-stabilizing agents without notably more success with them than with traditional antidepressants. In answer to your question, I do seem to have some generalized anxiety (and social anxiety), as well as ADD-like symptoms and some OCD, so, yeah, kind of all of the above. I do not have euthymic periods, but I do seem to go through cycles where my symptoms (including mood, cognition, and sleep. Also mild headaches start) get worse over a period of weeks for no discernable reason before returning to their previous, moderately less bad, level. Perhaps that's a manifestation of some sort of mood cycling--such had never occurred to me. I'd given up trying to understand the phenomenon, but now I wonder.
-Pb> Your describing yourself as having symptoms of both melancholic and atypical, plus having a family history of affective and schizoid disorders suggest a closer look at bipolar depression. Even though some people might define your presentation as "soft bipolar", there is nothing soft about it. A "hard" bipolar presentation of depression can be severe, and does not always include manic or hypomanic episodes. The term "Bipolar V" would describe this condition best, I think. Of course, treatment resistance to traditional antidepressants is a feature to be taken into consideration. They might not be sufficient to bring someone to remission.
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> What are some of the other features of your illness? Do you have comorbid GAD, ADHD, or OCD? Has it followed a recurrent pattern with periods of euthymia (normothymia)?
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> For me, Bipolar IV fits because I am chronically depressed with the exception of drug-induced mania.
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> - Scott
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poster:psychobot5000
thread:1017453
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120508/msgs/1017745.html