So- let's talk mental disorders.

I have been diagnosed with OCD (on the OCD spectrum), depression, anxiety, and bipolar 2. I also have tics which aren't a mental disorder but could be neurological I guess. I haven't been diagnosed yet but I'm fairly certain I have PMDD as well.

My doctor says I have bipolar 2 because I have periods of extreme depression that reoccur. Sometimes I guess I'll have hypomania but I don't always notice because I usually think it's anxiety. It's consistent over the past few years that my mood is baseline for a while and then goes down incredibly low. I do take medicine.

 

I have depression, anxiety disorder, PTSD and BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder).
I developed depression from hiding my sexuality and being in a string of abusive relationships with girls (before anyone takes this the wrong way, I was the one BEING abused. Not doing the abusing.) So that didn't help my struggle. It took me having to have a mental breakdown before I came out. I've always felt suicidal and loathed myself (for being gay, for being ugly - or so I feel, anyway.)

Anxiety...I'm not really sure what triggered that?

PTSD... It's odd, because I've been through different things that seem to 're-trigger' it; I lost my grandad and my younger brother in 2008-2009 just months apart, I was raped in 2012, got stabbed outside a nightclub in 2014, found out my son's mother was abusing him and had to fight for not only her conviction, but for full custody (I won) also in 2014. And I was jumped by a gang last year for being gay. -- All of those events have re-triggered my PTSD. It's like as soon as I feel that I'm recovering, something else happens.

As for the BPD I'm not sure when that first came about either?
Sorry this is so long and possibly TMI? But as you can see...I'm pretty screwed up lol. I really hate myself to be honest. Medication and therapy only sort of work
Hubby, children and my job make things a lot brighter though, they give me a purpose...

 

I have been diagnosed with severe depression, panic disorder and anxiety disorders.I am trying to recover from associated self harm. On a more physical level, I am gross motor Dyspraxic.

 

My illness includes psychotic features, too. At some point my doctors also though I might be schizophrenic. It's indeed no fun, and using it as a joking term in any way is stupid.

 

Thank you!
As for why we have these:most people agree there is a genetic component for certain mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but there could be environmental causes too. Illnesses such as PTSD and borderline personality disorder are caused by trauma.

 

I struggle with anxiety and perfectionism. I have been hard on myself all throughout school because of my school being so competitive. And I felt like I had to be perfect to get in and now I feel like I have do great on everything I do in my program. So it's interesting on knowing how hard I am on myself but trying to not be like that anymore.

I have struggled with anxiety my entire life but it comes out usually when I try to plan my future. Talking about it and rationalizing my triggers helps me not be as anxious. I don't want to take medications for it because I don't want to feel like I need the medicine to get through my day.

 

I'm autistic. I also suffer from a myriad of anxiety issues from a lifetime of mistreatment from...pretty much everyone around me. I'm a mess, but with everything I've been through it's a testament to my inner strength that I'm not worse off than I am.

 

I suspect that I have bipolar type 2, but I don't want to get tested for it, so I won't know for sure. I do know that my grandmother on my mother's side had it.

I constantly alternate between periods of feeling high and others of feeling low, often at the same periods of the year (very low in summer, very high in winter, usually). It doesn't affect me too much. I tend to do a ton of stuff in my high moments while not doing much if anything during my low moments. I learned to take advantage of this.

Apart from that, I had depression in 2013, but I managed to get through it.

 

I was diagnosed with depression... I told an old friend I was feeling very sad and angry..
She told me to look out for help, so I don't start thinking about suicide or anything like it...

I have always felt alone my whole life, and I really thought i was going to end up dead.. but I always thought about my mom when it came to my mind. I pictured her crying over my dead body and... and she doesn't deserve it. She's been through worst than me and seeing me dead was just unthinkable.

I contacted some therapists but it was very expensive, and eventually I found the perfect place... I it has helped me so much... so much... I still feel sad and alone and I some days I just feel like staying home crying, but.. i know I won't kill myself. i won't

 

I barely deal with myself now. I was hypomanic, that got me irritable as hell. Now I'm still hyper, still irritated about everything around, but I also got suicidal thoughts, which scare me. Not to mention the persistent urge to hurt myself.
I think I'm rather having a mixed episode now I'm so tired of it. So tired of myself.

 

I was diagnosed with depression, which I honestly didn't find surprising. I'm almost positive that I have anxiety as well.

I've been suicidal, and I HAVE questioned the reason for my existence on more than one occasion. But I'm far too prideful and far too stubborn, so here I am, trudging through life as best I can. I guess you could say both those traits are a good thing for me, since they balance out my depression (at least I would like to believe).

I have a therapist, whom I hardly ever even see. Which is fine with me. I appreciate his thoughts on occasion, but I still consider myself self-suffcient enough to not have to go so often.

 

Mmmm, I have quite a bit of social anxiety, pretty chronic low self-esteem, and when I was much younger I struggled with an eating disorder that almost hospitalized me when I was in the third grade or so, that I still struggle with occasionally nearly 20 years later. I've put myself back into therapy for multiple reasons a few months ago, and it has helped quite a lot. Almost feel like a real person again these days.

 

My main diagnosis is Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Spoiler

I usually describe it as an obsession with perceived flaws in one's physical appearance. I find my body image and by extention my self-worth is often affected by stress. Logically, I know these obsessive thoughts aren't true but they are often the only thing I can think about. On a particularly bad day I'd say 95 percent of my thoughts have to do this obsession switching only to worry that I will never find love. Some days I stare at my reflection for hours. I can be having a great day and then I see my reflection and spiral into a near-suicidal depression. Luckily, I've never developed a severe eating disorder simply because I don't have enough discipline.

It has horrible consequences in my life, for example I have trouble finding a job because I often think any potential employer will not want someone so ugly as me.

I think most of it comes from my internalized homophobia. There was a time when I was proud of my femininity and my small physique, but now I hate myself so much. I struggle to keep myself from forcing out and unnaturally deep voice and I've examined all my mannerisms to weed out any effeminant body language. It's safe to say that I hate everything about myself.

 

I have generalized anxiety, chronic depression for years (though technically undiagnosed, as most doctors here don't take depression as seriously as they should), PTSD, still battling anorexia (it wasn''t as bad as three years ago), struggle with suicidal thoughts (and shamefully... have made a few attempts).. and mild OCD

 

Schizoaffective disorder, bi-polar, depression, anxiety disorder.. And a handful of others, I'd rather not talk about...
I think half of them are baloney anyway..
I'm like perfectly normal...
I think..

 

I've been extremely depressed but recently managed to pull myself out of that abyss. Diagnosed with Asperger's and have a lot of issues due to abuse and bullying over the years.

 

I am pretty certain I have OCD, and it manifests in the form of washing my hands. I feel the need to wash my hands with soap at least twice, and I always wash my hands up to my elbows. I cannot touch anything that I have touched before with dirty hands with anything except my elbows, so turning on and off faucets and washroom lights is a bit of a struggle. This morning, i washed my hands just because I touched a washroom light.

 

I've never been taken to a psychiatrist, so it's not been officially diagnosed, but when I was younger I had an OCD where I would always wash my hands when I touched something "unclean". And I don't mean dirt or after using the toilet. I mean taking the bedding that I just slept on to the washing machine touching rubbish, touching old books, being in other people's cars or on public transport, after I went shopping, sitting on other people's sofas etc. It got to the point that my hand were cracked and were always bleeding, because I would feel the compulsive desire to wash my hands after touching something. I got better by myself, but it was really difficult, and my mum would start telling me off when I would was my hands needlessly, even if I got into a hissy fit about it.

Also, when I was younger my teachers told my parents to get me checked for autism. My mum didn't as they only had education support there, and no social support. Since my grades were fine, it was just socialising with people I struggled with, I didn't get checked out. I think I didn't finally learn how to look in people's eyes while talking until I was 14/15!! Needless to say, I was very socially awkward and struggled to make friends.

I have been officially diagnosed with speech problems and received therapy with it when I was younger, but I'm not sure if that's a mental disorder. Nowadays my speech is just fine, though it's pretty crappy if I'm tired or emotional.

This was not diagnosed, but it's worth noting that one of my sisters have been officially diagnosed with depression, but I'm not sure if i have/had depression or if I was just feeling depressed. But for about a year I was constantly feeling empty and felt that life had no meaning. I would wonder what it would be like to die and I distanced myself from everyone around me. I could go days without actually holding an actual conversation with anyone, and as soon as school was over I would just go back to my room, shut the door and curtains and shut myself off from the road.

What got me out of the phase mentioned above happened last year when I grew an obsession with doing a ridiculous amount of working out, eating healthily and eating less than 1000cals per day. After four or five months, my school was forced to intervene as I was 36kg (sounds drastic, but I'm really small. Like I'm just under 5ft) and I had to go to the doctors a couple of times, until I said I was busy revising and going to class and the doctors were getting in my way (my bad, I know, but I was very rude and grumpy all the time at this stage). Since I was taking my exams that I apply for uni with that year, my school said that if I didn't start gaining weight I would not be allowed to sit my exams that year. Thus, I started eating more, though I hated it at the beginning, and now to present day I try to avoid looking at the mirror, as I hate the way I look.

I'm not sure if I can say I have any mental disorders though, as I've never been officially diagnosed? So I don't know. Sorry for the long post.

 

I've been diagnosed with depression and anxiety with a seasonal aspect since February, and I've been making ups and downs with that, but it has mainly been getting better with a few minor setbacks here and there. Here lately I've also been having triggering events and vivid flashbacks to some things I'd rather not have, so I'm scheduling an appointment with my psychiatrist and therapist to see if I might have posttraumatic stress disorder of abandonment, and also possibly a nonverbal tic disorder as well (although the latter really does not affect me much at all).

I know that for a lot of people it is nice to go and find words that you can use to relate to what you are experiencing, but self-diagnosis is definitely not the way to go. If you think you may have something, definitely go to a licensed mental health professional and see what they think as well.