Good Afternoon.

My daughter had a bipolar disorder and was very high functioning (working full time, going to graduate school, etc) and was then in a car accident. Since the accident, she is barely functioning. Her mood swings are more erratic, the depression is deeper and she is very irritable. She is unable to hold a job, had to take a leave from school and had to be hospitalized for med management. Nothing the psychiatrist is trying seems to work. Any one have any experience with this? I'm the mom and I am feeling helpless.

Mimi,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. I am sorry to hear of your daughter's struggles. There are a few things she should get checked. She very likely has an upper cervical injury. C-1 and C-2 can be traumatized by the violent forces in a auto accident. The soft connecting tissue can become torn and stretched leaving her with muscle spasms and inflammation that can cause all sorts of concussion symptoms. It takes a specialist to identify the fine changes in cervical vertebra position.

Also, she may have developed a hormonal imbalance. Most doctors take a shotgun approach to hormones. To find a specialist in hormones, check with https://www.womensinternational.com/..._referral.html

Also, read the blog at http://braininjuryselfrehabilitation...mptoms-part-1/

She should also get started on a vitamins and supplements regimen. Read the sticky at the top about Vitamins and Supplements. Also, read the post regarding Omega Fish Oil posted yesterday

Please feel free to tell us anything about her symptoms. There are lots of good people here who can help.

My best to you and your daughter.

I think that a concussion definitely affects people with bipolar disorder, but I'm not a doctor or anything. I'm just going by personal experience.

I was diagnosed with bipolar about 8 years ago. After 5 years of being symptom-free, my doctor decided that I was wrongly diagnosed and removed my diagnosis of bipolar, replacing it with a diagnosis of anxiety.

Ever since I got my concussion, I have been dealing with mood swings that are out of this world. I usually control them pretty well, but last night, I completely lost it and was screaming for everybody to just get the :::insert bad word::: away from me. I never talk like that or even THINK like that, so that was very odd behavior for me. I also have mood swings out of the blue - I mean, literally out of nowhere, I will burst into tears and not even know why I'm crying.

I hope that your daughter feels like herself again soon.