Bipolar Paranoia
Is it possible for a Bipolar Disorder individual to have severe paranoia,?
The reason I’m wondering is because… a mental facility thought I had severe paranoia and Bipolar Disorder. Not only do I have severe paranoia, Bipolar.. I also have ADHD and a mild form of Autism. I’ve never been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, but some of my family have been previously diagnosed as Schizophrenic. Does this mean I have Schizophrenia as well, if I do not have hallucinations, delusions, but just have the severe paranoia? I hope not. I just hope the paranoia is from bipolar, but most of the time when paranoia or paranoid is mentioned- people think of Schizophrenia. Why is this?
Paranoia is not a psychological disorder. Bipolar disorder is a psychological disorder, and paranoia is a symptom of that. I think they either misspoke or you misheard because paranoia is not a disorder, it a symptom. Perhaps they meant to say that paranoia is a severe symptom which is contributing to the bipolar disorder. It’s just a symptom, and it’s a symptom of several disorders, ranging from the mild to severe disorders.
However, it is impossible for you to have both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. There are, according to the DSM-IV, three basic structures for the way the mind works: neurotic, psychotic, and borderline. Bipolar disorder is neurotic, and schizophrenia is psychotic. It’s absolutely contradictory and no reputable psychiatrist would diagnose with you both. If you have bipolar disorder, you cannot have schizophrenia. It’s either one or the other.
Rest assured, just because they mentioned paranoia doesn’t mean you are schizophrenic. In fact, being bipolar is actually good compared to other disorders. The neurotic classification (which is what bipolar disorder falls under) tends to have the best prognosis of them all. You are not schizophrenic just because you have paranoid symptoms stemming from bipolar disorder. Relax!
Paranoid schizo complains to city about “rogue helicopter pilot”
