Re: Devastated - voices

[Guest guest]

You can have a bipolar illness with psychotic features (i.e., voices)

and not be schizophrenic. From what I understand, these voices are

not different from those heard in schizophrenia.

Bonnie

>

> Hi,

> It looks like my message didn't post – I hate when that happens. If

> it does post later, this will be repetitive.

> Thank you for all the replies RE my son's recent diagnosis. The

> encouragement and stories of hope from this group have helped me to

> feel so much better. Friday morning was the last time I cried. I

> wanted to respond sooner, but: 1) I was digesting the information

> and 2) we took a few days off for family day trips and haven't been

> home much. Over the next day or so, I will reread and respond to

> posts.

>

> , the story of your bipolar daughter's struggles and successes

> is inspirational. Since there are quite a few parents of bipolar

> children in this group, I did hesitate to express my feelings of

> doom. What scared me the most was not so much the bipolar diagnosis,

> but the idea that it could be something worse than bipolar

> (schizophrenia), and hearing that whichever condition he has, it will

> be a severe form.

>

> After months of enduring countless appointments and long drives,

> can't deal with talking about how he feels anymore.

> After the appt., when he said very little, I explained that from now

> on, he'll only have to talk to the new, local doctor, and that he

> needs to be honest so the p-doc can determine the meds that will work

> best. Even though didn't talk, the p-doc did review in advance

> all of the records, timelines and notes I provided. Hopefully, once

> is more forthcoming, the doctor can give me more answers.

>

> The doctor says he can't rule out schizophrenia because hears

> voices. All the time (I think), he hears critical voices that tell

> him that he's stupid, ugly, badly behaved and selfish, and they doubt

> his decisions and call him him a liar. I'm dying to learn the

> difference between biplar and schizophrenic voices, but I haven't

> found anything on the internet. He has bipolar symptoms, including

> major depression, black and white thinking (unless that is an OCD

> symptom), and he experienced horrible mood switching and suicidal

> thoughts on SSRIs. It's possible that he's had mood switching all a

> long that I didn't recognize, because he does have goofy moods where

> he can't seem to control himself, and when we impose a consequence or

> say anything critical of his behavior, he has complete meltdowns and

> hates himself. He has obsessive, OCD tendencies too, but I'm not

> sure at this point which symptoms are OCD.

>

> Not sure if this is a bipolar or schizophrenic thing, but, on the

> SSRI, he mentioned a couple of times that nearby conversation sounded

> like nonsense. The first symptom he complained about was thinking

> differently from other people, deep thinking, and constant worrying

> about bad things happening to him and family members. He also

> imagines things like himself dying, hitting me in the head with a

> rock, and doing things to hurt people's feelings, like destroying a

> gift and saying that he hates it. All of these thoughts and images

> make him feel sad.

>

> In so many ways, doesn't fit what I've read about children who

> become schizophrenic. As a baby, he was content, cheerful, and was

> able to soothe himself. Until, about 2 years ago, he was always

> happy, friendly and well liked in school. He is still well liked in

> school, but he stopped connecting with kids outside of school when

> neighborhood kids started to include him, though they are often

> pretty mean. Up until partway through the past school year, he has

> been an above average student. He also excels in sports.

> Hopefully, these are indicators that with help and the right meds,

> he'll have a head start in developing coping skills and the ability

> to conquer upcoming challenges.

>

> Thanks again for the support. This group makes it so much easier to

> cope.

>

> Tamara

>