Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 1/27/2008

Question
I am writing in regards to my aunt.  She is in her late 40s.  She has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder about 5 years ago.  It seems that her current Psychiatrist cannot get her medicine right, and she recently had a seizure due to taking 2 conflicting medicines prescribed by this doctor.  He changes her medicine quite often, and she is having difficulty with her symptoms.

Her symptoms are:
She has days where she is very down, and does not want to get out of bed.  During this time she also will not clean. She also cries often, and unprovoked.
Then, she will get into a high period where she will fix dinner, take the kids to their games, and clean the whole house, etc.
Recently our family has noticed her in a 'zombie' state.  When you look at her, she is kind of blank.  Could this be from the medicine or from the Bipolar?

We want her to go to another Psychiatrist.  How do we go about finding a GOOD one that can get this under control.  She is fully aware that she has these problems and she is very frustrated with herself.  However, she does not have any suicidal thoughts.  

Is there a database that lists Psychiatrists?  And are there Psychiatrists that specialize in certain disorders, such as Bipolar?  We want to make sure that she has been diagnosed correctly and is on the right medication that won’t cause another seizure.  She lives in the state of Texas.  

Please help.  I don’t know where else to look. Thanks!


Answer
Hi, Selena . . .

While diagnosis from a distance is really impossible, it sure does sound as if your has some form of bipolar disorder.

The zombie-like states you mention can either represent a side effect of medication or it could be a catatonic like state related to your aunt's bipolar disorder. The two possibilities could only be differentiated by an experienced psychiatrist seeing her while she is in that state and carefully reviewing her medications.

I have compiled a list of experienced excellent doctors who do an excellent job treating people with bipolar disorder and other mood disorders. It can be found at:
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.psychiatrists.htm

A list of the best psychiatric hospitals can be found at:
http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hospitals/search.php?spec=reppsyc

Best regards . . .
Ivan