hi, my two cents.

no such thing as being too young to be diagnosed as a bipolar or any other mental illness. however, age does affect the outcome of ur initial diagnose. it could sometimes be years of monitoring, theraphy?, meds before u can get to the root of the problem.

also often, bipolars are misdiagnosed as 'depressed' as generally we only tend to seek help when we're in the 'down time'.

don't try to self diagnose also, as in, by just reading what you think you have and come to a conclusion. always try to do without the meds if you can. many alternative options available.

i believe the best psychiatric/counseling care we have is in UMMC(govt hospital options that is). if you are looking at private options, its very very taxing on ur wallet. some would also just be pushing drugs (its sad but true!).

alternatively, if ur just looking for someone to rationalise ur fears/problems, befrienders are pretty great and they have a good network of support. u can even drop in at their centre in pg or kl.

sorry if i'm overloading with info. hope u get well.

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Added on August 25, 2011, 11:43 amsorry, i must say this, it is possible to be without meds.
its always a matter of choice.
ultimately, the sufferer must make the judgement himself.
there are cases where being on meds aids someone further into a mania episode.



This post has been edited by RA54: Aug 25 2011, 11:43 AM

I suppose perhaps you misconstrued what my my earlier response was intended to be. I am not implying to be off meds and be on your own in your orbit. In order for someone to make a decision to go off meds or to be without in the first place, there MUST and should be multiple level of assessments over the external support for the sufferers and it usually come with many lifestyle changes. Perhaps its veering towards my belief that psychotherapy is more often than not the 'better' solution than long term medications. Its akin to either handing someone a fish for dinner, or handing them a fishing rod.

But without a doubt, certainly medications are useful in its own way. It is afterall a billion dollar industry. But its certainly not the magic pill? By way, I believe most of them act as a jerk to pull u into focus instead of veering off the rails. It just irks me that more often than not these days that sufferers are offered this 'band aid' immediately as soon as they are diagnosed. And many many sufferers holds the notion that it will somehow mysteriously transform their quality of life by just simply popping the pills. and THAT in itself, is often another common 'trigger' to a quick spiral into the depressive mode.

hence i said, it is ultimately the sufferers own choice. an informed and well thought out decision? i initially wrote that response as i am just uncomfortable sometimes when people are too quick to say, take the meds or you must take the meds, its imperative to be on meds to manage it. etc etc It certainly is not. it could be a kick start, it could be complementary, but you should never view it or take it as you're being sentenced to be on medication just because you have such a problem.

sorry TS if I am hijacking ur thread and trencher10 if its an offend to you?hope not. u sound like a logical person.