[Easeful]

Originally Posted by shutterbug

2. The one finishing up the nursing degree is wrong. There are a BUNCH of reasons why psychiatrists prescribe anti-psychotics to bipolars and others (who aren't actually suffering from psychosis)....one is known as "augmenting." For some reason, some meds like those you mentioned will help the anti-d's and the mood stabalizers work better. Remember there is a BIG difference between a nurse and a psychiatrist.....and I personally don't even trust most psychiatrists to know what they are doing!

I see I didn't express that very well. I just threw in the nursing bit to indicate that she has a little more than the average bp patient's level of understanding of meds. But what she was speaking from was her own experience that she, her siblings and her son don't need antipsychotics, not that bp's don't need them.

I'm trying to understand. What it's sounding like from the nearly incoherent psych professionals I've been listening to, is that my son had a prolonged bp manic period (a week or so, and that can't really be confirmed) that resulted in the break with reality. Is that possible?

And assuming that I've got that much right and it's not schizophrenia (3 out of 6 say bp, the other 3 say more likely schizophrenia but too early to label) it seems that avoiding the manic highs would be the goal? Maybe I'm oversimplifying.

Thanks for the info on augmentation, that gives me a better understanding.