Anyone who has been exposed to trauma and did not “bounce back” to their “normal selves” — especially trauma over a long period — is probably not a candidate for Bipolar Disorder.

This is a Web site for those people who have been diagnosed, to provide a service to you. There are genuinely Bipolar people, and they deserve understanding and recognition. But this page is not for them.

The person writing is a social worker and has no religious, ideological, or cult affiliations that would interfere with opinions on mental health diagnoses. The information expressed here is based on hundreds of case studies of children and adults exposed to trauma, and/or diagnosed with BD, and conversations with many psychiatrists from the bottom to the top rung of the profession.

U.S. society has in the past decade seen a huge increase in Bipolar diagnoses in adults and children as young as 7, most of which are in error. This is detrimental to our society and to the individuals mistakenly labeled with the severe mental illness. Such a diagnosis scares off potential partners, disqualifies individuals from joining the military and obtaining other jobs, and alienates individuals from conventional friends who are frightened by mental illness.

A BD diagnosis usually causes doctors to prescribe antipsychotic and anti-seizure drugs that cut the brain’s supply of dopamine — one of the key “happy” chemicals our brains produce — thus causing people to become dull, sleepy, and making excitement impossible. These drugs also upset metabolism, causing major weight gain, and eventually, in many cases, diabetes. They slow cognition, stunt creativity, and cause bizarre cravings. No one should take antipsychotic drugs unless they are severely psychotic on a regular basis. The anti-seizure drugs should not be given to mentally ill people. They have not been proven to treat Bipolar Disorder, and no scientist can actually tell you why they make (only very few) people less moody.

The following traumas often cause symptoms/behaviors/feelings that look like Bipolar Disorder:

-Being abused on a regular basis by parents, friends, or partner

-Being savagely abused once

-Being molested, even just once, or raped

-Having a terrifying near death experience, or a very bad accident

-Living in a very dangerous neighborhood, or in the middle of a war

-Growing up around addicts/alcoholics, being married to one, or having an addicted child

-Being sexually harassed over a long period

-Being homeless for more than a few weeks

-Lacking money for food and shelter for more than a few months, or on a regular basis

-Being raised by, or married to, severely mentally ill individuals who are not in treatment

-Being verbally or emotionally abused at place of work without recourse

If, after having been through one of these experiences, you become very moody, angry, irritable, hyperactive for no reason, paranoid, and can’t sleep normally, you are likely suffering from anxiety and chronic stress. There are many names for the types of illnesses that result from such anxiety:

-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

-Borderline Personality Disorder

-Generalized Anxiety Disorder

-Adjustment Disorder

-Codependent Personality Disorder

-Depression (all kinds)

-ADHD

The treatment for most of these disorders is the same, and involves teaching the brain to cope in different ways. For example, one aspect of treating Borderline Personality Disorder is to employ the “opposite action” strategy: when you feel like doing something angry, do something loving instead. This is the same strategy for treating one aspect of Codependent Personality Disorder, and Depression, and PTSD, and GAD. In essence, you are supposed to train your brain to create new behaviors that will help your brain recover from the injury of the trauma.

You may also be prescribed anti-anxiety drugs, though hopefully not addictive ones like Benzodiazepines, and antidepressants of all kinds, which can help the brain generate new cells and overcome the injury and chronic stress caused by trauma.

The goal with treatments for the above disorders is to allow the patient to fully recover, by allowing the brain to fully recover from the trauma.

But with Bipolar Disorder, there is no goal of full recovery. The medical establishment, and society at large, do not see BD as an illness with a “cure.” One can recover from a manic or depressive episode, but one can never recover from Bipolar Disorder. This is why it should not be diagnosed in people who have been traumatized — because if erratic behavior is caused by trauma, it is possible for the patient to recover completely. Trauma can even cause temporary psychosis. But that does not mean the patient is doomed to a lifetime of psychotic episodes. If they seek the right treatment, they will be able to fully recover from the injury.

Do not believe any doctor who tells you that you have Bipolar Disorder. Force him or her to first rule out all of the disorders listed above, before winding up at BD. Your life may be easier in the short run if you accept the BD diagnosis, but in the long run it will cause you enormous problems, and you may also become enormous from the medication you are strongly urged to take.