hi everyone.

I was diagnosed with paranoid Schizophrenia about a year ago. I have been having symptoms all my life. I thought i'd share an experience i just had with a doctor and ask a question about bipolar disorder.

Well, i just got out of the hospital again. I went in because of "paranoid delusions" and hallucinations i'm having that got real bad. Im real sure i've been accuratly diagnosed (paranoid Schiz) but the doctor i was assigned while i was in the hospital seemed very ignorant and made me kind've confused.
first off, he barely asked me any specific questions before he "diagnosed" me. He said he read through some of what the nurses had written about my symptoms.
I made it very clear to him i have not had problems with depression for almost two years and have no symptoms of Bipolar. i told him i had come to the hospital only because of the hallucinations and paranoia and that i am not having any problems with my mood.I told him i have never had a manic episode and i have been evaluated for bipolar by other psychiatrists and even put on a couple mood stablizers to rule out bipolar (lithium and trileptol) and it was always found by these other doctors that i did not have Bipolar disorder.
Anyway, this doctor at the hospital didn't seem to be hearing me or listening to me. He kept going back to the subject of "possible Bipolar illness" or Schizoaffective disorder: bipolar type.
Finally, i think i got through to him a little, and he diagnosed me with schizoaffective disorder: depressed type.

I still dont agree with his diagnosis. He did not even give me a thorough evaluation before he labeled me and he ignored the fact that all these other doctor i have been to have agreed that i have schizophrenia. He seemed to be in a hurry to be done with me. When i was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, it was by a very highly recommended psychiatrist and the evaluation he gave me was about 2 hours long. He didn't diagnose me in one day, like this doctor did. I went back a couple times and was evaluated further before he gave me the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Also, i had had an EEG, MRI, and blood tests done to rule out medical problems.
this doctor in the hospital didn't even ask me about possible medical problems and didn't know i had ever been tested for them.

Also, another thing he said to me was " YOu wouldn't be Schizophrenic because Schizophrenics dont get depressed" what a load of BS! it's very common for Schizophrenics to have problems with depression.

My question is, in order to be diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, wouldn't i have had to have at least one manic episode...or maybe im wrong.

thanks

-becka