Post by foreverdrone on Mar 30, 2012 2:21:45 GMT -5
Immediately obvious to myself‒and perhaps to others already familiar with graphomania as a symptom‒my "style" in reply #1 reflected immersion in a manic state (which has yet to recur). In such straits, my most common idiosyncrasy was intentional misspellings: intended either as portmanteaux, or as a not-terribly-amusing hybrid of malapropisms + eye dialect. Sprinkled with forms of associational slippage I failed to suppress. (As for what I might have intended by "halogenated," the state-dependent features of memory have left me uncharacteristically, uh...speechless.)
I'm not even bipolar! Recently, though, I've found a new therapist. Necessary, after my shrink (with whom I'd had a good relationship for almost ten years) insisted I was, indeed, bipolar. Despite having shown signs of unipolar depression from ages 11 through 46 and nothing else? He insisted: secretly, I'd been bipolar all along.
Also, that common symptom of mania‒i.e. "disinhibition"‒personally manifests primarily by staying holed up in my apartment, sitting at the keyboard nearly 24 hours a day, attempting to write the suburban-American version of Finnegans Wake. Insomnia has been (as an adult) a lifelong problem: and which‒as a classic symptom of mania‒clearly was being intensified. Fortunately, that meant being "a danger to self or others" loomed largest only if it could be accomplished via email, or other electronic means of communication.
Had enough of meds. Especially considering the MD insisted upon a "mood stabilizer," leading to the classic question: would you prefer the cure or the disease? After educating myself on neuroleptic side-effects such as akathisia and tardive dyskinesia, it felt urgent to locate a practitioner less apt to regard any psychiatric medication as harmless.
(The manic episode turned out to have been caused by Rx interactions. Which he refused to believe; after all, he prescribed them!)
Fortunately, extreme wordiness continues to be my only semi-permanent symptom.
As long suspected, the real issue is schizotypal personality disorder. Isolated? On disability, hence too much free time? "Unusual perceptual experiences" (not hallucinations), "ideas of reference (not delusions), and a tangential style of speech. Check, check, check, check and check. Aren't euphemisms helpful?
"I've caught poetry."
"Really? I used to suffer from short stories."
"When?"
"Oh, once upon a time...."
I'm not even bipolar! Recently, though, I've found a new therapist. Necessary, after my shrink (with whom I'd had a good relationship for almost ten years) insisted I was, indeed, bipolar. Despite having shown signs of unipolar depression from ages 11 through 46 and nothing else? He insisted: secretly, I'd been bipolar all along.
Also, that common symptom of mania‒i.e. "disinhibition"‒personally manifests primarily by staying holed up in my apartment, sitting at the keyboard nearly 24 hours a day, attempting to write the suburban-American version of Finnegans Wake. Insomnia has been (as an adult) a lifelong problem: and which‒as a classic symptom of mania‒clearly was being intensified. Fortunately, that meant being "a danger to self or others" loomed largest only if it could be accomplished via email, or other electronic means of communication.
Had enough of meds. Especially considering the MD insisted upon a "mood stabilizer," leading to the classic question: would you prefer the cure or the disease? After educating myself on neuroleptic side-effects such as akathisia and tardive dyskinesia, it felt urgent to locate a practitioner less apt to regard any psychiatric medication as harmless.
(The manic episode turned out to have been caused by Rx interactions. Which he refused to believe; after all, he prescribed them!)
Fortunately, extreme wordiness continues to be my only semi-permanent symptom.
As long suspected, the real issue is schizotypal personality disorder. Isolated? On disability, hence too much free time? "Unusual perceptual experiences" (not hallucinations), "ideas of reference (not delusions), and a tangential style of speech. Check, check, check, check and check. Aren't euphemisms helpful?
"I've caught poetry."
"Really? I used to suffer from short stories."
"When?"
"Oh, once upon a time...."