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Honest question; All these "disorders", are they measurable? When you guys get diagnosed, does the doc say "We ran your blood test and sure enough you are low in X, Y, or Z hormone, which means you're blah blah"? Or is it all subjective diagnosis?
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no, there is no easy 'blood test' diagnosis. although there are some pet and cat scans which, for schizophrenics, can show regions of the brain, which look very different from 'normals' upon scanning. the diagnoses of mental health disorders often must come from the subjective description from the patient and from completing checklists for symptoms commonly associated with particular disease states. my disorder, ptsd, has been heavily studied from myriad case studies of returning war veterans, etc. bioplar disorder exists along a continuum from bipolar I, to bipolar II, to cyclothymia (the mildest form). depression is often classified as either acute (response to a particular stressor, often not long-lasting) or chronic, where the patient experiences symptoms for months into years. the process of treatment at the hands of a psychiatrist is far from an exact science. the brain is a complex organ, but it's theorized in so many words that many of these disorders result from imbalances in the presence of the various neurotransmitter substances, such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. the variety of drugs on the market all impact either one or a combination of these substances and/or their receptors, thus a doctor is always starting off relatively blind with respect to which medication to start with. it's the responsibility of the patient to report his feedback on the efficacy or lack thereof of the particular medication. often a patient will go through many frustrating trials before finding one that provides benefit. then there are the side-effects to contend with. to go into that would require more lengthy discussion. most experts agree that 'combination therapy' meets with the best results - that being medication combined with the work of a trained psychologist in the field of cognitive therapy, which involves helping a patient learn the causes of his particular disease and come up with coping strategies, which augment the medical process. speaking for myself, i wasted a lot of time before seeking help, even after i was forced out of aviation, but once i did, i began to improve. admittedly, i went through many, many rounds of meds before i found the right ones. at a point, however, i became frustrated with the drowsiness of the anti-depressant i was taking at the time (cymbalta) and tried to 'help myself', by combining it with a stimulating anti-depressant (wellbutrin) and met with disastrous results. i felt rather 'crazy' on this combo and just quit taking everything cold turkey. that's when i went into my deepest pit and had the suicide attempt, which landed me in a hospital, coming to a day and a half later. since then, with a new doctor, i've made good progress. i still have depression quite a bit..there's been much loss in my life..but thankfully, most of the anxiety associated with the ptsd (post traumatic stress disorder for those of you unknowing) has been brought under control.
ryan