Being heard

Forgive me, it is far to long since my last confession, sorry I mean blog!

Whistle stop tour - Easter, horrible lows, week off on leave, 4 weeks off on sick, June back in action and lots of catch up, in just a few days go to states on minister exchange, with minister from North Carolina coming here in my place. The exchange is for 6 weeks - July and half of August. 

Meanwhile ten days ago I had a return visit to the psychiatry dept. I didn't have great expectations after my last appt at the start of April. Then the junior psychiatrist I was assigned just dismissed aspects of my mood diary that I considered important, and only upped the dose of an antidepressant that I didn't think then, or now, has any impact on me.  She had told me that she would be moving onto another role in her specialist training and that the next time I would see another junior.  

And so I did, but this one was somebody who considered me as a person who knows something about my own experiences and moods. He listened fully, asked the relevant questions, and then came up with a plan.  I have formally been given a tentative diagnosis of Bipolar 2, and a plan for introducing a mod stabiliser. The plan is not to treat the lows or even the highs when they arrive, but to treat the swing between the two and so in time to avoid both.

So how do I feel - relieved, grateful to have been listened to, positive about a new treatment regime that offers something different to what is clearly not working.  Validated that my insight when reading about this last Oct and recognising myself in it is acknowledged by someone whose view is recognised.

The path ahead is not any more certain, but at least someone has a map showing a variety of routes to try and willing to help me work out one that finds a balance between the easiest to travel and the on with the best views of life.  But that is all to come...