Psychedelics don’t cause bipolar. What it can do is reveal it. (Or make it worse.)
I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 32 after a massive psychotic break caused by stress, despite mania, paranoia, and depression clearly starting when I was 9-years-old.
> Psychedelics don’t cause bipolar. What it can do is reveal it. (Or make it worse.)
AFAIK, we don't know enough about the mechanics of bipolar disorder to rule out anything that causes you to transition from not meeting the diagnostic criteria to meeting them as being a cause rather than a revelation of some existing underlying problem. If it makes you transition to meeting the diagnostic criteria, it causes the disorder as best we understand it now and anything else is speculation.
Does the reveal make bipolar treatment possible that was otherwise not being provided previously? It almost sounds like it can be used as a diagnostic tool for surfacing certain neurological disorders that otherwise might go untreated.
Psychotic breaks can be extremely damaging. I'm still recovering from the one I had in August 2018. There are less dangerous ways to diagnose possible disorders. (Family history is a major red flag.)
Good to know. I believe the genetic markers are pretty well known for some disorders; perhaps a component in diagnostics besides family history (which can be an issue if your parent was never diagnosed, died young, you’re adopted, etc).
I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 32 after a massive psychotic break caused by stress, despite mania, paranoia, and depression clearly starting when I was 9-years-old.
My mom suspected but never told me.