First off, I am a 26 year old female.

I am not sure what to think - I have this feeling everyday that everyone can hear my thoughts, and it's getting harder for me to go outside. I know it can't be true, but the feeling persists and I silence my thoughts when I feel that way, so they can't be heard. I had a psychotic episode 2 years ago and this is something I feel on and off since then, although I've had it at 16-18 too.

The thing is, I take aripiprazole 20 mg along with lithium 600 mg and paroxetine 20 mg. Should I still get this, are these delusions or am I just being weird?

Long story short, it's been awhile since I've seen a psychiatrist and I still have only seen one before. I'm not too knowledgeable about how these appointments work. I usually go to therapy.

So I go in today, with a list of notes of things I've been writing down for the past week. And lo-behold, I spend the first twenty minutes rambling about my annoyances with my roommate and how I feel like that friendship is the downfall of everything.

I feel like I just walked in there and blamed all my issues on someone else.

About twenty minutes in, she stopped me and mentioned I should probably look into therapy as well, and that this type of conversation would better help me there.

She was very kind about it and we spent the rest of our hour talking about medications, and actually landed on my potential to have OCD. This is new to me, and I scored pretty high on the Y BOCS test, so it was a beneficial meeting and I feel like I learned something and got a start on my journey, but I can't push away how embarrassed I am that I walked in and acted like I was in eighth grade. I hardly shared anything from my notes either because I spent the rest of the meeting trying to stay on her track, and not go on my own rant. I just let her ask the questions and we mostly discussed medications.

I can't get it out of my head and I feel like I could have been way better about our time, especially considering how much thought I've put into it. Did I actually waste the time or did she get some beneficial info?

So basically, I had this psych who had a tendency of crossing boundaries. Nothing crazy, but he hit on me several times, was pretty touchy and once blocked me from leaving until I hugged him. I didn't report him at the time because I was afraid of losing access to meds or being blacklisted by other psychs in the area.

A few months ago the practice very suddenly shut down with no given reason. They were very in demand with great reviews, so it was sketchy. I've since talked to other women who had similar experiences with him, and the talk around town is that being reported is the reason it shut down. Online, hes still listed as having a medical license but hes not practicing anywhere else.

I'd like to support the statement of the people who came forward with my own. It pissed me off he was treating vulnerable people this way, and I know how hard it is to go through the process of reporting.

But like....I can't talk to the staff, because everyone scattered after it shut down. I have no idea who to talk to about this, or what kind of involvement I would need to have. So advice is much appreciated.

Hello, I was recently referred to inpatient treatment. I’m a 18 year old with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type. I arrived at an emergency room seeking medication since my prescriber has been absent. I was told i could be admitted inpatient and also to PHP. I called the PHP services where i lived and they rejected me and told me to do inpatient. I spoke to an advisor (im overall stable just experiencing psychosis). The woman told me that my stay would be an average of 3-5 days (I’m ok with three). I live in maryland if that is important also. I’d just like to verify that this is true, I would be voluntarily admitted.

My therapist recently suggested I see a psychiatrist because of flashbacks from possible PTSD. He's suggested this before but more firmly this time if that makes sense. He mentioned they'd communicate to provide care. I've mentioned before I don't want to rely on medication as long as I'm not a danger to anyone.

I'm not diagnosed with ptsd because my therapist can't/doesn't diagnose, but he suspects I could be diagnosed with it.

I'm hesitant to look into this where I'm not anonymous. Could someone familiar with what this would mean in Ontario give me some ideas of what it would mean to see a psychiatrist and a therapist?

If I'm not planning to take medication is there a good reason to have a diagnosis? Or will it only have negatives?

I was experiencing what others called psychosis coupl three months ago, and I took an antipsychotic prescribed. Now I can think again and my mood is far more stable also. Does this say that it was true psychosis? Some people also claimed it was just a borderline-type crisis when I was hospitalised unable to be sure of resisting commands. But if it was just borderline, wouldn't the AP not help? And if the AP helps stabilise my mood, does that imply also a responsive mood disorder? History of major depression and possible hypomanic episodes. Complex so no definitive dx yet.

23F Australia white normal BMI

Why would Flibanserin (Addyi) help my bipolar so much? I stopped my psych meds (10mg lexapro and 50mg quetiapine) after my child was born. I was depressed, triggering my alcoholism. I just got sober 7 months ago and lost my libido entirely. As a result, I was prescribed Addyi. I’ve been taking it for a little over 2 weeks and I feel better in every single way mentally and it did cause my libido to return as well. I feel inspired and creative. I didn’t expect it to help in any additional way, or really at all!

19F. I'm currently being evaluated for ADHD, but my psychiatrist is not sure whether I actually have it. He has considered that my difficulties could instead be related to depression or even my personality.

At my first appointment, he told me that if I took Ritalin and my focus improved, then I had ADHD. His exact explanation was essentially: “If your focus improves after taking Ritalin, you have ADHD. If you don't have ADHD, you won't notice a difference, and it would just be your depression getting worse.”

When I saw him again, I told him that this made me nervous because I had researched it and found people saying that stimulant response isn't a diagnostic test. He repeated the same explanation and compared it to glasses:

“It's like your glasses. A person who doesn't need glasses won't see a difference.”

He also said that I have the option of getting a neuropsychological evaluation, but it is very expensive for me.

I've been seeing my psychiatrist for almost a year. I'm unsure whether I should continue seeing my psychiatrist or consider switching to someone else, and I'd appreciate a professional perspective.

Duloxetine

I started duloxetine tonight. 20mg. I started snri because ssris have always gave me adverse reaction like uncontrollable panic attacks to the point it makes me unable to function and I am a mother of a 18 month old. Zoloft, prozac and Lexapro have made me so agitated that my doctor was unsure to give me more ssris. What have been everyone's experience. I am ready to face other side effects but I just can't handle heightened anxiety and panic attacks.

If someone is experiencing religion-related psychosis, would it be better to consult a mental health professional who shares their religion and may understand the cultural and religious context better, or someone from a different religious background who may offer a more detached, objective perspective?

Obviously, specialisation and experience would be my primary considerations. However, if I had to prioritise religious background as a secondary factor, would it be better to choose someone who shares the person's faith or someone who doesn't?

I want to make the most informed decision possible.

Thank you!

P.S. I'm not looking to start a religious debate or derail the discussion. Please keep responses respectful of all religions and belief systems.

Bipolar type II
Professor
Female
36 yo

No hx of addiction or substance abuse.

I was stable for years on a combination of 200mg lamotrigine, Zoloft 50mg, and 25mg of seroquel. I mean, not a single hypomanic or depressive episode in years.

Well, a period of very little sleep and a slight medication inconsistency (got busy and forgot a few times), and I now have a horrible episode of depression with anxious features. It’s agony.

We’ve decided to up the Zoloft from 50 to 75mg and watch closely because, you know, bipolar. But because upping the dose can cause anxiety at first, my psychiatrist prescribe a couple of weeks of lorazepam (0.5mg).

I’m hesitant. I keep imagining I’ll become a drug addict. I also worry that it will give me rebound anxiety when it wears off. I’m tempted to just touch it out it for the next few weeks, but the depression itself is already stopping me from sleeping and making it so that I cannot eat much except ensure and mashed potatoes.

Thoughts?

I have bipolar and also insomnia that I have struggled with for many years. The only thing I’ve ever tried that has helped me sleep is low dose seroquel (25-50mgs) I know it is typically not recommended for sleep due to the side effect profile, but at this point it is either seroquel or trying a hypnotic/ sedative which I do not want to do. I am worried about the metabolic side effects of taking it though, especially long term. My psych np said that he can prescribe me metformin to help with this, but I worry that it’s not strong enough to combat it. Does metformin typically work to prevent metabolic harm caused by antipsychotics?

Good evening psychiatrists of reddit..I'm looking for any help or information..Ive been taking 50mg of Quetiapine XR for roughly 5 months..The pharmacy i get The Extended release from has given me The immediate release of 25mg instead of the extended 50mg.. I only realised tonight when I checked...I know they sometimes struggle getting the XR version from time to time...My questions are.

1..Should I notice any difference taking two 25mg IR as I've been used to the 50mg XR?

2..Is the side effect profile different?

3..is IR as Efffect as the XR

I've read sedation is stronger with IR? I don't want to go back to the pharmacy as I could be waiting for The XR version as its quite hard to get...im in the UK fwiw..Any help or information would be greatly appreciated..Many thanks

I have unsolved anxiety which kill me whenever that one person shows up in my life and that is my sister. I love her but i can’t live happily with her because of a bad phase in our life. I don’t wanna be like this it kills me every time she shows up in my life. I want to be normal i need someone who can identify my condition and help me be normal and live without this anxiety.
I am sorry but i only want a female psychiatrist to listen to me with empathy bcoz i don’t think and i don’t want to disclose the complete story of what has happened to a man.

For context: I am a 19 year old guy in my sophomore year of college. I have score of 23/28 on the Insomnia Severity Index when it is at its worst. I have been diagnosed with CPTSD and chronic depression by a psychiatrist. I have tried doing therapy for a few months, but I quit because it made feel a lot worse.

I've struggled with insomnia ever since I was 14 years old or so, but it wasn't too horrible. It only affected me once or twice a week and I usually just managed by pushing through the fatigue.

However, over the past few months, it's gotten so much worse. I have been incapable of going to sleep at normal times almost everyday, and can never fall asleep until I've been awake for at least 20 hours, even with the help of prescription medication. This has interfered with my life drastically, mainly because it has also made my eyesight (seemingly) permanently worse to the point where I need glasses to read small text that I never had trouble with before.

The weirdest part is that I've been sleeping so much better over the past few days for seemingly no reason. After thinking about it for a while, I remembered that I haven't done any school assignments for the past couple weeks simply because of how much I've been procrastinating. I thought there's no way this could be the reason why I am sleeping better now, mainly because I am attending community college fully online which takes out a massive part of the stress, but I cannot think of anything else that could be causing this.

I'm at the point where I'm too afraid to even start doing any assignments because I would hate to have my insomnia get worse again. I've been thinking about dropping out of school, but i don't have a job and I still live with my parents, who would be absolutely unapproving of me dropping out even if it is negatively affecting my health. I'm not even halfway through finishing me degree, so if I were to try and get a job, i doubt that I could find anything that I am not completely unsatisfied with.

I know that posting here is a shot in the dark, but I really have no idea what to do right now. I don't see any plausible paths open to me, so any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Why did Vyvanse heighten my sense of smell? I was recently ADHD diagnosed, and after taking the medication, I’ve gone from being the worst smeller in the world to being super sniffer. I don’t see this in commonly listed side effects so I’m wondering: is this normal? My world now feels like high-definition, and it’s definitely a big change. Thanks for your thoughts!

Hi so it kind of feels weird to make a post like this. But I really need some advice and opinion.

I realized I have some unhealthy patterns when I am dealing with rejection and shame.

When I feel like someone wronged me in a slightest way, I go out of my way to revenge them usually through using internet. Wronged me can be when they dislike me for no reason (sometimes jealousy towards me) or using me to feel better about themselves. I use Tor browser to contact their employer and let them know about how they are an abusive person. I also sign them up for spam calls. I have also used spoof numbers to call them out.

I feel like what I’m doing is not normal. When a person does me wrong I do this pattern for like months even after not seeing them in a while and I am never satisfied.

Other than that, I am completely devoted to my loved ones. I send money to my mom who struggles and take care of my grandparents. And I do this because I truly love and care about them.

I also have this certain image in mind that I need to portray to other people. I am obsessed with my looks, I’m Korean and I got bunch of plastic surgeries. I feel like I need to be the prettiest to feel like I can see the people wronged me as bottom and to have new people who meet me feel like they are impressed by me.

After typing all these out, I feel like I’m definitely not healthy mentally. I am suspecting covert narcissism. I do have social anxiety and depression that I am seeking treatment out for.

Also I am 25F.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Idk i should share here or not,but I am daring

I'm 19M a college student,once with a group of friends and a girl,the life was very Happy, friends,family,food,sports,studies etc but suddenly one incident changed everything and i became alone ,im just with my girl and all friends are seeing me as stranger where there is no mistake of mine,I can neither sit and explain to them nor bear the pain of they being normal infront of me and talking back behind me. They even lie when I asked ,,this sudden detachment has created an inferior feeling to share my expression, opinion with strangers, though I started to make new friends,it became very difficult because everyone is already with some friends and no one wants to spare some time to me(if this was the situation in first year it would be easy but now everyone are there in their comfort zone)

Now the actual problem I SLOWLY BECAME SILENT ,even if try to convey my opinion nobody is there to hear it,i became silent and this was happening from 5 months and a habit of talking to myself, thinking of imaginary scenes which are practically impossible at midnights these are all the things happening

Some called me you are an introvert some are saying you're depressed

My family is asking why are you so dull,sad be Happy

My problem is what's wrong with me,I can't take the saying of I'm introvert cause right from childhood I have no inferiority to speak to convey to anyone literally anyone,I could randomly go and speak to any girl but now i could rethink to even talk to a boy

I'm tired of this life and I want to build myself and also feel free from inside. I can't take this silence over my life

Please suggest the solution

Thankkkk you so much for your patience and now it's just one step to give me the solution

Hello , my pscyhatrist wrote F31 infront of my prescription can I consider myself a bipolar person or so I need to wait more for a diagnosis,

I fear I got both bipolar2 and adhd from my mom how can I get her a diagnosis or just help her out because she has dementia rn and none of the meds are working for her.

TL;DR: first visit with new psych, felt invalidated and dismissed, while having him make calls I felt were genuinely dangerous to my health. Unfortunately stuck with him. Whats within my control to improve the situation?

F, 31, ADHD, ASD, PTSD. Vyvanse, lexapro, guanfacine. No drugs no alcohol, never been employed.

I just met my new psychiatrist for the first time. It went horribly. He was cold, had a strong emotional barrier up- presumably to protect me from the news that he will lower my prescribed dose against my will. This is to some degree normal- every new psychiatrist always wants to do that as I am over the normally accepted dose limit.

However, recently I have been extremely unstable, I ended up self harming and last week I made a half hearted suicide attempt while dissociated. What shocked me was that when I said that I’ve given it a lot of consideration and I am open to slowly trying to lower the dose of my ADHD medication, but that I feel very hesitant to do so specifically in November as I have been getting worse and worse every winter. Last year I had to be admitted for several weeks.

He said that we can hold out until January when I see him next, for renewal of my disability application. I have been on a form of disability that in Sweden people below 30 can get, thsts approved 2 years at a time. After 30 there is permanent disability or 3 months at a time- disability. This has been extremely destabilizing for me. I have trauma from sex work which I did before getting disability and being without a stable source of income has a tendency to worsen my resilience.

Now this is just background info- I am open to how maybe I need to change or do things differently.

But I felt extremely cruelly dismissed; at one part of the visit he said we would lower the medication and then see how my heart rate looks after lowering and quitting caffeine- and then maybe take a new approach.

Then later I asked if he meant forever and then he said yes. My social worker was with me during the visit and she also didn’t understand that he meant effective immediately until I asked him if he meant now, when it was time for him to renew my prescription at the end of the meeting. He said yes.

I explained that I genuinely feel worried about my ability to make it through the winter with so many destabilizing factors all at once given that last November I had to be admitted for a long period of time and my recent deterioration.

He ultimately relented until January but my point here isnt to say that he’s wrong

My point is that I recognize that in order for my lowering of my meds to be successful, I need to somehow find a way to trust this man who I feel every cell in my body that he doesn’t give a shit about me, and he works at the ADHD clinic because he DOESNT want ”complex” patients. I got the sense he felt I was somehow dramatic or exaggerating. It scares the fuck out of me that he seemed to think it’s bad for me to be on disability. He has no idea what ive been through and I realize I might have to ”lay myself naked” in front of him for him to truly get the context and risks.

What things are in my power here in order to build therapeutic relationship? How can I trust him when he was so cold, didnt respond to my bids, didnt notice me crying, cut me off mid sentence?

I have to be extremely clear that I can’t change psychiatrists because of how the system in my country works. I’m stuck with him. So I have to find a way to make this work. Lowering the vyvanse dose ive been on for 11 years by 20%. Trusting that him saying he wants me working =/= he will refuse sending in my disability application and thus leave me to face homelessness even though he very well could and it’s becoming more and more common

But I can’t worry about it because it simply is outside of my control and worrying will only destabilize me.

Please help me find ways to cope and somehow find some sort of trust?

Asking about someone else. I just wonder since the majority of women don't even play fast-paced games, and fast-paced anything seems to be viewed as unhealthy in this day and age.

Could some mean doc say that's not really her who plays Splatoon with me and can kick my butt when we're on opposite teams? Could they say a lady her age should have slower hobbies like gardening, writing flowerly letters in textbook English, playing match-3 games, etc., instead, because Splatoon is way too fast for her to play while she unwinds after a stressful day as a nurse?

I worry about this part of her being taken away, or gender stereotypes and suburban social norms of "calm" winning out. I worry that someone would say that this is an unhealthy pattern or something that's wrong just because "women are different", she's "too old", "fast paced things are stressful and manic", "there's too many colors and slang terms in this game," whatever else.

Am I an enabler? She plays around 9-10pm her time too.

Recommendations for a psychiatrist in Mauritius...?