Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 12/22/2011

Question
Hi,
Make a long story short, I've always been very moody & depressed on & off since I can remember. I've been on every major anti depressant pretty much & nothing really helped so I would just stop taking it. I was in celexa for a year & that was helping with the depression for theist part but, moods were still. Ad. I cannot remember the last time I wa truly happy ( for more than a couple of days) I guess I just thought that was normal? I am in a relationship right now with an ex alcoholic that treated me very badly before he quit drinking last year. Now he is still a jerk sometime but, takes good care of me & my 2 kids. I'm able to be a stay at home mom & am in school again. He also has two kids half time, I do all the laundry, cook dinner everynight, cart the kids to and from school and everything a stay at home mom is supposed to do only, I do it without ANY help from him. He's lazy & I never get a break until bedtime (my bedtime, not kids) anyways, I took a psych eval & the dx impression says "mood disorder, NOS r/o bipolar borderline personality disorder and the plan is to take another test I'm assuming " MMPI-2RF" I'm UN insured & the psych I was seeing for very cheap has now left the practice so I'm left wondering... Have I been diagnosed? What does all this mean? Can u just start life out with average depression & then it worsen through traumatic experiences in life?

Answer
Hi Elise . . .

I may be wrong but it sounds as if you have been evaluated by a psychologist rather than by a psychiatrist. One of the indicators of bipolar disorder is a history of having chronic depression and not doping well despite treatment with a series of antidepressants. Or, a history of antidepressants working for some period of time and then "pooping out."

Borderline personality disorder is sometimes found along with bipolar disorder. To learn more about borderline personality disorder please see:
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.borderline.html

I do not think that you have completed the diagnostic process.

I think you should see a psychiatrist who can both diagnose you and treat you.

Certainly it is possible to become increasingly depressed as the result of traumatic life events.

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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