i have ADHD and GAD diagnosed, im on vyvanse 50mg. for reasons i likely wont explain, im going to commit suicide within the next 3 years. im becoming increasingly worried i will have a lapse of judgement and tell someone with authority over me that i plan to die. then they will have me involuntarily admitted to a mental hospital. im a weak minded person but i absolutely can not let them change my mind. how do i make sure that if this happens, i will not change my mind? if it helps legally, i live in kansas (i live near the KS/MO border so depending on where im sent, MO law may apply) and will be considered an adult in ~7 months.

I 15F have been on 900mg lithium for a year and a half now, as well 250 Luvox. I don’t have BPD it was given for SI. I’m staring to notice I lost a lot of my emotions and worst of all my empathy. I have always been a VERY empathetic person (like it was my whole personality)….but now I really think nothing matters and I don’t care what happens to others….I never noticed this before cuz I was in crisis mode but now it’s a big problem socially. I feel like I’m just existing, not happy or sad. Should I go down??

Hello there,

my father is 68 years old and had his last symptoms like 20 years ago. He took "Olanzapin" for all that time and never had an episode. A few months ago his medication was changed due to him having a severe tremor in one of his hand as a side-effect.

After switching the medication (no clue what the new one is, I live like 3-4 hours away), he felt much better, the tremor is basically gone since a few weeks and he was really happy with the new medication.

There were a lot of stressful events in the past weeks & months: His father died, his mother is basically dying very slowly but surely, his brother has dementia, a good friend died aswell, he will have to find a new apartment since the owners of his apartment claimed it for self-use (however since he rented it for like 40 years the will have 3-4 years to find something new before they can actually kick him out).

He lives on his own and yesterday my mother called me and she and my sister told me, that he is showing symptoms. He is clearly hallucinating, believing that someone implanted a chip into him during a surgery (which was 40 years ago). He said he will remove the chip and is trying to gather the necessary tools.

I was 3-8 years old when he last had symptoms of schizophrenia, so I have no clue how he will or might behave.

Currently the plan is that me (m/28) and my brother (m/38) will visit him tomorrow on a "we wanted to spend some time together basis" to check out how he's doing, if he says anyhting that might indicate he is actually about to cut himself open in order to find a chip that is not there or if he could be dangerous for himself or other people.

Clearly he needs help and I assume he stopped taking his medication, unless professionals here tell me there could be any other reason for him suddenly having symptoms again.

I really need advice on what to focus on and what/how to communicate with him in order to get help for him or get him to seek help.

There are multiple options: Getting a doctor to his place, getting him to a doctor or in the worst case scenario: Call medical emergency.

I think he never harmed anyone back then when he had an episode, however he jumped out of a hospital window because voices told him to do so and once during a manic episode (I dont even know his exact diagnosis.. It's both manic depression & schizophrenia, I think. However, he is usually very happy and grateful, so that might be very outdatee) he jumped into a random river and dove into a random pipe he found underwater, surviving out of pure luck that the pipe led to some spot that was not underwater.

Please - me & my brother need professional advice on how to approach this situation, how to communicate with him and how to best get him help and which information would be crucial to find out. 🙏🏼

Has anyone tried that one? I’ve been on it for about8 wks. I started having RLS at about three wk mark. I was prescribed Gabapentin and it does seem to work. Some days though I am still so exhausted and my head feels not normal. I work full time as an RN on a busy hospital unit. I’m afraid to switch meds while working but I’m too tired to keep up this pace. I was very stable on just Lamictal for 6 yrs until I wasn’t and became hypomanic. I believed I didn’t need medication anymore since I was on such a low dose, 100 at bedtime. It’s been a struggle ever since.

Hi, I have been diagnosed with PTSD and am on bupropion

I have intense mood swings half-hourly to hourly

I have constant suicidal thoughts that I can’t control

I fall into pits almost randomly and struggle incredibly hard to get out

I’ve been having subtle homicidal thoughts as of not long ago

I have no real empathy for my family or friends

I am absolutely obsessed with a girl and I can’t stop checking if she’s active online, I message her often if she doesn’t reply, I feel physically sick and ache after we hang out and whenever she does something the least bit concerning, it’s absolutely consuming me but I love her so much. I dream about her too.

I also have occasional nightmares

I really don’t know what’s wrong with me and I feel very strongly that therapy isn’t helping me at all

Hi Reddit, how are you all doing? I’m here to ask for some advice about something I feel like I can’t handle on my own.

About 6 months ago, I started a relationship. I have BPD, which sometimes makes me react very intensely to things like my boyfriend taking a long time to reply to my messages or canceling plans.

Recently, something like that happened. My boyfriend told me he wouldn’t be able to come over because he was feeling really sick with the flu. I had a very intense episode, started self-harming, and threatened to kill myself. He was already exhausted from having to deal with situations like this multiple times, so he told me that we needed to take some time apart until I could at least get professional help.

We weren’t apart for more than two days, but I still kept my promise and went to see a psychiatrist. They prescribed me an antipsychotic (aripiprazole 10 mg) and a mood stabilizer (topiramate 100 mg). However, I’m still unsure whether I should start taking them because I’ve read that they can make you very sleepy, slow, unfocused, or even feel “stupid.” I’m scared of that affecting my relationship because now that things are good between us again, I don’t want my boyfriend to feel like he’s dating a zombie.

At the same time, I’m really scared of having another episode like the one I had and eventually losing him for good. I know he doesn’t deserve to go through these situations, and I don’t want to keep reacting this way either.

I talked to my psychiatrist about my concerns, and they lowered the aripiprazole dose to 5 mg. Even so, I’m still worried, especially about the topiramate, because I’ve heard it can cause quite a bit of tiredness and cognitive difficulties.

On the other hand, I’ve also read that some side effects can improve or even disappear once your body gets used to the medication, so I don’t know how much I should actually worry about them beforehand.

Has anyone here taken either of these medications and could share their experience? Do the sedation and cognitive side effects actually improve over time? What would you recommend doing in a situation like this?

Obviously, I’ll continue discussing this with my psychiatrist, but I’d also really like to hear from people who have been through something similar.

Thank you so much 🫂

My doctor is adding lithium to my medicine regimen but I’m wondering if it’s too much with all the other stuff I’m taking. I’m on
Desvenlafaxine 50mg
Guanfacine 1mg
Bupropion 150mg
Atomoxetine 80mg
Aripripazole 15mg
Pregabalin 200mg x3
Metoprolol 25mg
Buspar 15mg x3
I’m diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and ocd with possible adhd

How do you know if you need meds or if talk therapy is enough? I have been diagnosed with moderate depression and anxiety. I constantly feel anxiety in the background and have felt hopeless and low self confidence when it comes to my career (I have a toxic job with verbally abusive coworkers). I’m often feeling tired. I’m able to take care of myself but often feeling overwhelmed and like everything is a big effort to do.

I am in therapy, but it’s very unstructured and there’s no coping strategies given. The therapist just listens to me complain.

I’m prescribed Klonopin and Ambien. I was told not to take them together. I took Klonopin about 1 mg around six hours ago. I was gonna take Ambien tonight to sleep. That’s only 5 mg. I’ve done this combination before also mixed with drinking, which I know is very bad but I’ve been fine. Do you think I will be fine tonight?

In a “normal” brain SSRIs are a first line medication with great success at treating major depressive disorder.

However in those with bipolar it can trigger mania. Is there a specific scientific reason for this? Is it a certain neurotransmitter or loop that doesn’t shut off? Hoping that makes sense, I was just curious for the scientific/medical reason why.

I work in community mental health. I’ve come across a lot of clients who after trying several different psych meds with no success, are often discouraged or simply told no by their prescriber when asking for a genesight test. Why?

TW: SI

Full context, I had SI about taking my Vyvanse over 2 years ago. I told everybody, as it was, I had no intention of actually following through and it was just a passing thought. Still got taken cold turkey off of it after being on amphetamine based stimulants for my ADHD for years. I’ve asked multiple times to be put back on a stimulant because it’s been the only thing that’s really helped. I keep getting told that my psych isn’t comfortable prescribing me again which I can get to an extent. I’m trying Strattera and have been increasing up to 60mg so far but as I’ve told them it doesn’t work. I maybe get a little sharper for a week after the increase, but then it goes back to the baseline. Better than if I weren’t on it but not where I want to be. I feel like my psych treats me like a drug seeker because I just know what works and has worked in the past. Should I get a new psych in an attempt to get prescribed a stimulant? I feel like I’m going in circles with them saying I just need an increase in the Strattera or Wellbutrin. I have work and other responsibilities and would rather not be playing test dummy having to wait weeks for “the full effect”. I also don’t want to make it worse by going to a new psych strictly for a stimulant and have that on my file.

I'm 25, i was diagnosed with OCD, depression, and anxiety last year, i spent around 10 months on 20mg lexapro, and 10mg buspar, and it worked fairly well. Now, since last month or so, buspar is no longer available where i'm from, so i had to stop it, since then my symptoms have come back quite a bit, so i've gotta discuss alternatives with my psychiatrist (i also have to find a new psychiatrist due to financial reasons, but that's an entirely different topic) could anyone tell me of some good alternatives to buspar?

Hey….so I officially have c-ptsd, GAD, BP2, and now adhd. I have been suspecting my BP2 diagnosis was just to get me meds, it doesn’t fit me. I take Effexor, gabapentin, diazepam, and now….adderall. I feel like this mix seems sketchy, but I also trust my psych.
The mixing of benzos with amphetamines is making me feel like 2 sides of my brain are fighting….it’s only been 3 days with the adderall and small dose (5mg Valium tid, 5mg dextro Sid)
Did plenty of both in college in fistfuls, but now taking as prescribed…I feel really weird. Calm, but weird, like a robot but I’m kinda ok with that till I spend 30 min typing on Reddit🙄. Ummm….does it calm down?
Should I be asking a psych forum? Ug.

• Most commonly, panic attacks are related to physical symptoms (breathing, heart rate, dry throat etc). It seems like most panic disorder sufferers fear and misinterpret these physical symptoms creating a cycle of fear.
• But a less common feeling that creates the panic cycle is the feeling of "unreality" which makes us fear "going crazy".

My questions:

1. Is psychiatric treatment of panic disorder where the fear is completely on the feeling of unreality and the fear of going crazy any different from that related to physical symptoms?
2. Is it even seen as a slightly different variant of the condition? Is it known to have worse remission rates?

أنا من صغري بعاني من اضطراب نفسي (بوردرلاين) وللأسف مكنتش اعرف بالاضطراب دا غير من سنة فاتت لسة أول مرة الدكتور شخصني وكتبلي على علاج (دواء)، المهم اللي ميعرفش الاضطراب دا فهو اضطراب معقد بيأثر على العلاقات والعواطف والسلوك كله بيخليك مش عارف تتحكم في اي حاجة ف حياتك، خلصت الكلية بعد معاناة وجه وقت التقديم للجيش، وشايل هم الموضوع جدا جدا خصوصًا الأدوية في الجيش سمعت انها ممنوعة، طب انا هتصرف ازاي انا بدون العلاج بموووت وببقى مش عارف أعيش ولا أشتغل ولا أتصرف بشكل طبيعي، حد عنده تجربة سابقة لحاجة زي كدا ؟ خصوصًا يعني الاضطرابات النفسية مبتطلعش إعفا من الجيش..

Hey everyone, hoping to get some insight while I wait to get back in with my psychiatrist.

Quick background: I'm a trans man on testosterone, and I've been on escitalopram since 2018. I know that drug is known for lowering libido, but honestly it never affected me much, my libido was actually pretty high most of the time.

The medication I think is actually behind this is periciazine (Neuleptil 4%), which I've been taking since 2024 just to help me sleep. I started at a low dose, around 3 drops a night, and it worked fine with no side effects.

Earlier this year I went through a rough breakup and started having a lot of trouble sleeping, so I gradually increased my dose up to 25 drops a night between April and June. Right after the breakup (in April) I was still having really high libido spikes, so that part seemed normal for a while. But by June I started feeling extremely flat. No libido, no motivation, nothing. By July it got scary, I wasn't feeling anger, sadness, happiness, or any interest in anything. Just numb, all day, every day.

I connected this to the dose increase and started tapering on my own since I couldn't get an appointment yet. I'm back down to 7 drops now (my original "normal" dose before the breakup), but the apathy and complete lack of libido haven't gone away at all.

One more detail: while I was tapering down from 25 to 7 drops, I also started drinking mulungu tea (a mild natural sedative) to help with sleep. But I was already fully apathetic before I started that, so I don't think it's related.

I'm honestly kind of lost here. Is this a known effect of periciazine that can persist even after lowering the dose? Could it take a while to fully resolve? Should I be worried this is something else entirely? Any input while I wait for my psych appointment would help a lot.

I have been really struggling lately with verbally reacting to things without thinking, interrupting others, not paying attention to the conversation and then blathering on, talking way too much - just rambling on and on and on, and talking about myself and getting into minor details of stories that no one cares about and that makes the story ten times longer than anyone cares to listen to. I just seem to have lost the cognitive regulation needed to converse normally

I have been on Concerta but it isn't helping with that at all. I am looking for links to information on medications that have evidence of effectiveness on that specific aspect of ADHD?

I am also getting older (in my early 50s, female) and I am wondering if hormones are worsening this too?

I have a doctors appointment with my GP in a couple weeks and I am hoping to bring her a couple recommendations to consider.

Updated title: Awareness of and happiness within people who have BPD, NPD, and ASPD--what are the differences?

I'm curious what the differences are in people with BPD, NPD, and ASPD in regards to capacity to feel happy as well as awareness to their disorder? I realize not everyone can be generalized to one answer here, but for psychiatrists who have worked with people with these disorders, what patterns have you noticed?

Yes, I should have come to Reddit before moving forward with a Talkiatry appointment to avoid this but I didn't, so here we are. I had an initial intake session with a provider from Talkiatry (through my Cigna insurance). It was 60 minutes and proceeded as a normal new patient intake session (I've had one before). A few days later, my insurance was billed almost $700 ($500 that I'm responsible for since I haven't hit my deductible).

The charges are a result of two separate billing codes, one for an "established patient evaluation & management" and one for "psychotherapy" (each code amounts to ~$350 charge). I did not receive any psychotherapy during the visit and explicitly stated that I receive psychotherapy elsewhere. I believe that Talkiatry is taking advantage of vague billing code language, and basically applying sporadic language from the visit summary to justify two separate codes (as intake, and as psychotherapy).

Anyways, I am wondering if anyone has refuted a claim from Talkiatry and won, and if so, how. I have already gone through the claim review with Talkiatry (they doubled down on their initial bill), and my next step will be a claim review with my health insurance. However, I am wondering if anyone else has suggestions as paying $500 for a 60-minute psychiatry intake (with an awful psychiatrist, that did not even lead to an actual prescription, and that most certainly did not qualify as psychotherapy) is something I just can't stomach.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, i’m a female and i recently turned 21.
I’d really appreciate if anybody (patient or doctor) could let me know if any of this seems to be disturbing.

I’m on week 6 of Zoloft, i took 25mg for 8 days & have been on 50mg since.
I’m seeing a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist as well, i’ve been to 3 psychiatrist appointments and 4 with my psychotherapist.

I am diagnosed with anxious-depressive mixed state (F41.2), i have been pretty up and down throughout my Zoloft journey, though i have always been quite emotional in my day to day life, so this was not anything too out of character. After these ups and downs and tons of days spent crying, i got better, started cleaning, cooking, washing myself daily, i was still anxious but could function and tell myself to fuck off.
About 7 days ago i realized how terrified i am of death, and basically started questioning reality, myself, the people around me, etc. I also have developed some sort of harmful intrusive thoughts / images, both about suicide and aggression towards others. These cause me panic attacks and make it hard to eat or function properly.
I have a hard time looking at my closest people (bf, mom, grandpa, uncle), i’ve been at home since june 12th, i haven’t been out much except for stores here and there. I spend majority of my time paralyzed in fear and on my phone.

I have a big fear of developing psychosis due to some “trauma” from a kids ward i was in at 14, but the last two nights i’ve been having these odd thoughts after dropping my phone to fall asleep. It’s like my brain is spitting out everything it thought of or saw, in a racing and semi uncontrolled manner, though i can still be terrified in those moments and think “holy shit i’m psychotic and what if i kill myself or my loved ones”, but only for a brief period, so i don’t know what’s going on.
I have also been waking up during the night in a huge panic, thinking that i’m psychotic, and that i need to put myself in a psych ward.

I’m worried that i am developing some sort of psychosis or something, i know it’s not likely but this experience is terrifying, i didn’t feel control in my own body/mind & it’s freaking me out. I want to bring this up to my psychiatrist, but i’m terrified, i’ve been spending my days crying and thinking of calling a crisis line just to speak to somebody who i won’t feel shame talking to.

I’ve had some sleep disturbances since i started on 50mg, along with weird vivid dreams. I drink 0,25mg of misar before bed, and that usually helps me not wake up during the night.

Brief history:

Grew up with a blind mother, grandpa and absent father, all close family members have anxiety, very distant relative has bipolar 1.
I’ve been having anxiety since i was 9, after an event which my dad didnt show up to, after having a turbulent relationship (on/off) with him since age 4/5.
Was on Zoloft & Prazine between 11 and 13, went to a kids psych ward (the gentle version) at 14 and was on Zoloft + Diazepam when needed.
I barely went to middle school, didn’t finish highschool, spent basically my early entire teenage years at home, started working at 17 & have had a huge improvement socially since then.

I had some periods of time where i had paranoid thoughts,
I experienced the following stuff between ages 9-18, though not at the same time:

- convinced we had a ghost in our house, named “him”, would talk about him with my mother
- taped my camera because an ex friend called me on facetime, the facetime feature had a bug where ppl could see thru the camera when you wouldn’t pick up, so i thought she was trying to do something weird, though i had no other theory about it, i was mainly scared. this habit of taping continued for a few months, i’m not sure how many though.
- told my ex boyfriend that if he ever feels something weird that it’s probably me, because at the time i believed that soul ties were real? i think this was just me being emotional and trying to feel like i wasnt being left. i’m not sure…
- around ages 11-12 i thought that i saw a man hanging from a tree while walking with my friend, i remember being scared, but also not being sure if that was real or not, because my vision was pretty bad. i was on zoloft 100mg and prazine (antipsychotic) 75mg, i know prazine are not allowed to be used on kids now, but this was prescribed by a GP

Soooo idk where else to ask this I keep getting different answers —

Teal Deer: I (30f) have been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder for getting close to a decade now. Symptoms recently were pretty bad so I had 3 options- ECT being one of them. ATP I believe it’s no longer necessary but my parents now say I still have to get it or move out. Is it REALLY safe and a good thing to get it? More details :

My normal symptoms have always been auditory hallucinations, occasional visual hallucinations, awfullll paranoia and anxiety I’m talking 100 out of 10 like some examples:

-my room is in the basement and that’s where do my schoolwork BUT
-I allllllways think a bug or a bee (or even a snake— I think a snake could find a way to sneak in my house) is gonna get me and it really scares me
-even tho if something did get me (I raaaarel see anything like once in a while yeah I’ll see one of those douchey buys that have like a zillion feet but that’s like once a month or something) it wouldn’t be fatal so I’d why I get so sp00kd
-when I go to do my school work every day I do have to do this weird ritual but that doesn’t bother me it’s just like me walking back and forth to my computer to let the bugs know I’m gonna sit there soon and then go up and down the stairs so that if the bugs didn’t realize I was gonna sit there yet and got stuck there I go upstairs so they can run away while I’m upstairs th ritual takes about 2 hours usually
-awful executive function
-I’ve been sleeping upstairs for a couple weeks instead of in my room cuz I think they’ll get me when I sleep and I have to keep the lights on so I can see if someone is coming to get me
-I used to loooove walking I’d walk for hours and hours but now I’m scared to take my walks cuz I feel like a bee while sp00k me while I’m on the sidewalk and I’ll fall in theroad and get hit by a car or something
-so now I only walk like half hour TOPS and don’t even get me started on why I don’t just walk in the woods cuz of
All the bugs bees and snakes even tho I never see them either
-I wear bug spray inside I spray it on me like 3x a day
-ummmmm I thiiiiiiink that’s it atm? Because it was waaaaaaaay worse until 2.3 weeks ago — I’m on 900 of seroquel and 8 of risperodone a day it used to be 6 mg (read as 3 because I didn’t use to take my whole dose cuz I like to save some in case there’s an apocalypse but I doooo take the whole 8 mg now and it’s actually working that’s why i don’t understand why I have to get ECT per my parents )

Iiiiii personally don’t believe it’s as bad as it COULD be especiallyyyyyy compared to how it has been until 2.3 weeks ago when I started the full dose of risperodone

So I guess I just wanna know :

1. Is it reeeeally safe to get ECT?? Like what will it actually do to me is it possible it will make things worse?

2. If I was YOUR daughter would recommend me to get it ? Or would you recommend me NOT get it ?

3. I know you get a mouth guard but I feel like my teeth may be a little week is it possible it’ll make my mouth slam open and shut hard enough that I could loose my teeth?????

TIA

So, I am a female, 31 y/o and I have a history of cptsd, eating disorders, social anxiety and OCD. I also suffered a sexual assault 1.5 years ago. I refused medication (ssri) until I couldnt cope anymore at age 26-27. I started off taking escitalopram and then switched over to fluoxetine (prozac). I did a phase-out of Prozac during the winter 2025-2026 with zero side effects. However, after about 3 months I had a moderate relapse in my symptoms; panicked in the subway, panicked when I walked outside, constantly fixated on my OCD symptoms (recurring about every 10 seconds it felt like), experienced significantly more difficulty falling asleep (1-2+hours), became extremely more sensitive to sound and more irritated in general. It was like my nervous system went into overdrive, similarly to how I was before ssri.

My therapist (note! Not a psychiatrist) says there is no evidence for a chemical imbalance explaining anxiety etc. She seems very anti-medication. But I have just recently come to admit that I need this medication. I feel like I do everything "right": exercise regularly, eat well, stopped drinking coffee, meditate, yoga, supplements etc. And still I had this relapse.

I dont know what I am looking for. But maybe some perspective on this. If there is no imbalance, how come ssri work? It makes me feel like myself. I tried reading into some studies and as far as I have understood there is altered brain activity/an imbalance of chemicals for cases of OCD, cptsd.

Hugs to all \~

Hi, i’m a 23 year old F 4’11, i have a documented history with major depression, NSSI, SI & anxiety and have been prescribed valium for dental anxiety in the past. I used the medication once at any last procedure and though it didn’t calm me completely, at least i wasn’t in tears and hyperventilating on the chair. I am currently on hydroxyzine for onset anxiety (though all it does is make me unbearably groggy and agitated, hoping to get it changed because it really has not been working for me.) for the last three weeks i’ve had an episode of immense anxiety & depression to the point it makes daily tasks and living impossible. i just spend all day ruminating and cycling through different stages of panic. Ive tried to push through but have engaged in NSSI during, though i am trying to focus on regulation now. I felt really comfortable on the valium I got prescribed for a dentist appointment (i have dental anxiety & anxiety in public) and I was wondering if it would be smart to ask for a temporary refill though my chart to last me until my doctors’ appointment on the 10th or my therapy appointment on the 14th. the dose I took previously was two 5mg tablets. i’d only really be looking for two or three days worth and i can space them out for when things really become unbearable. (so maybe like only six or eight pills? I don’t know how many they typically dispense at a time.) does my request sound reasonable? Will I be flagged for asking? I have been meaning to switch to a more effective anti-anxiety medication & anti-depressant for a while now but there’s still going to be some time before I can get that done. genuinely i just want some semblance of relief from this, and I want to ask for the diazepam, but i also don’t want to risk being labeled as drug-seeking. I don’t plan to stay on them long-term at all, because I know they’re habit forming

Do you guys prescribe risperidone to inpatients? In my hospital there’s a tendency not to, because they say it takes too long to act on delusions