Hi, David,

First off, I'm not BP. I do have my 'issues', though, that are very similar. Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar, I gather, are sort of 'cousins'

I'm amazed that you describe yourself as 'mellow' and that you can maintain that mellowness

Oh, in the US, we have TONS of therapies for 'mental' disorders -- everything from what you eat to what you think

I suspect that since you and I probably have related disorders that 'talking therapy', even though it might be helpful, is not really going to be a solution. More practical therapies that deal with "how to cope" and "how to function" would probably be more useful. DBT is one example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect...vioral_therapy

I'm shocked by that doctor -- that sounds like practice that is bordering on malpractice. If he's got his patient roster all mixed up in his head, I wonder if the drugs and the records are all mixed up too

You might want to look into Recovery, Inc. (http://www.recovery-inc.com) It's patient-run. The concept comes originally from Dr. Abraham Low. It's very practical.

You sound like you've got a good handle on what the problem is. It sounds like you might need to do some work in the areas of: standing up for yourself, maintaining boundaries, and learning how to let go and relax.

Doesn't sound like your friendly, forgetful, neighborhood psychiatrist would be much help in any of those areas. He doesn't even have his own head screwed on straight.

You know, David, you don't always have to get "therapy" from psychiatrists. There are family practitioners, social workers, good friends, writing. Basically, what you need to do is define the problem, then determine what you're going to do to solve the problem. The medications are a separate issue that can be handled by a competent family practitioner.

You know, David, these labels that they slap on us in order to get us "better care" and in order to define what that type of care should be, often undermine everything. I've been labeled "Borderline Personality Disorder" and can't find a psychiatrist that will touch me with a 10-foot pole because BPD patients are "supposed to be difficult". Interestingly, I think the label might have been applied wrongly.

Don't get me going on the "relatives' thing Most of mine are not worth the 41 cents it would take to write them a letter. You can do something special for your Mom's birthday without involving inconsiderate, judgmental relatives.

I wish you luck. I know how exhausting it is to slog through the mud of mental illness every single day. It effects everything. Everything from your work-life to your love-live to your home-life to your self-esteem. When you take back the control, though, and start kicking some @$$ when some @$$-kicking is necessary, you get a sense of accomplishment and power and a feeling of control over your own destiny. Pretty darn good feeling

Barb