<Do not post warnings: sexual details do not belong in posts.>
Does anyone else have impulse control problems related to their bipolar disorder? This has been a very embarrassing issue that I have been dealing with. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about a year ago and I've been on several different medications and nothing has helped. My psychologist also told me that I have a sex addiction. It's ruining my social life and preventing me from making any friends. I lost most of my friends due to isolating myself so much when I was depressed. Now I'm not as depressed so I try to go out and meet people but I keep embarrassing myself. Most people think before they say stuff, but I don't. I just say stuff and then end up thinking "Oh my god, did I just say that out loud?!"
Last night was horrible. I went to this meet-up group. It's an organized social event for people who are trying to make new friends. I didn't know anyone there. I did okay for about the first 15 minutes, then things started going bad. I just kept saying all these socially inappropriate things without thinking about it. It was like I wouldn't even realize what I was doing until I got strange reactions from the other people there.
<deleted: totally inappropriate for this board.>
I clearly had some impulse control problems last night, not just with the stuff that I said, but also with my sexual acts in public, but it feels out of my control. I end up messing around with people I don't even know, and that is also risky but I do it anyways. And I keep embarrassing myself and making other people feel very uncomfortable. I'm afraid that my impulsive comments are going to result in someone starting a fight with me or trying to get me in trouble for sexual harassment. I do realize that I am inappropriate and I feel bad about it, but it just seems to happen, especially around strangers. I try so hard to think about stuff before I say it, but it rarely works. Or sometimes I will think about it and not realize until after I said it that it was completely inappropriate. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, can you give me any advice?
I am not on meds right now, because they were causing me to gain too much weight. I also have an eating disorder and body image issues, and the weight gain was causing me to become suicidal before so I stopped my meds.
I am also wondering if these impulse control problems are part of the bipolar? Or if it is some other problem?
Yes, impulse control, usually in a kind of mania, is part of it.
I think you need to get on meds, go back to your doctor and ask for a weight-neutral med. There are some out there.
Otherwise, perhaps you need to limit your contact with people, esp. in social situations, right now. You can learn to govern these impulses - DBT seems to work very well for that.
If it helps, I find that if I remain mindful of what I am saying and slooow down, pause before I speak and remain mostly quiet, it helps a lot.
I hope you have a good therapist to help you on the bipolar and the ED. I have both, too, so I can understand you concerns about the weight.
That's my IMHO - I hope I haven't given too much "advice."
