Borderline personality or Meth addict?

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There are plenty of differences between Bi-polar and meth addiction.

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Hey SFJ -- she was talking about borderline personality disorder, not bi-polar.

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Regardless, I doubt if you've ever seen BPD or "manic" patients stay awake as long as a meth user. Not even close.

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My dear friend, you have no idea. Quite the contrary.
I love you, but I have to tell you that on this one, you are dead wrong.

Manic people can go DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS without sleep - and they look like tweekers, they talk like tweekers, they are disorganized like tweekers, and they have as much if not MORE energy on no sleep as a tweeker with a limitless supply of meth.

One difference is this; a tweeker can be medicated to sleep with relative ease. We can give a person in an acute meth psychosis a "hot shot" (Haldol 5mg, cogentin 1mg, and Ativan 2mg IM) and it's all over for them. Sometimes we will use another medication called droperidal if the person is young enough and there is no risk of cardiac problems, but most often Haldol is used. Generally speaking, a person who is high on meth can be brought down with one injection, sometimes two. They will sleep for a long time, and in most cases are non - psychotic when they wake up. Some take a little more treatment before the psychosis resolves.

On the other hand, a manic person most often CANNOT be medicated to sleep. What happens in those cases is the person just becomes ataxic (Unstable, drunken like gait,) falls down and ends up hurt in the course of the never ending activity of a manic episode. Mania can be treated over time with meds - but one or two shots isn't going to do it like it will and does with someone who is high on meth.

Manics have meth addicts beat when it comes to going without sleep.

There is nothing desirable about tweeking - of course not. I was making a comparison.

But, having spent my entire career in the company of the mentally ill AND in the company of, or under the influence of meth, I ASSURE YOU, a manic person can out-run a meth addict any day of the week. Mania is supposedly the "Best high in the world" - and this is what THEY tell us, not something I read in a book or extrapolated from observing hundreds of manic patients since 1980 when I began my career in mental health. Mania is unmistakable and takes quite a bit of time to stabilize. Manic people EAT for one thing - that gives them an edge as far as stamina is concerned.

A meth addict will deteriorate over time without sleep... a person who is having a manic episode can go and go and go... they need little or no sleep, their minds are racing, they are usually very irritable and difficult, but they do enjoy themselves in the process!

The one thing they don't want is the mania to end. It can take weeks to stabilize a manic episode, and the stabilization is usually proportional to the amount of sleep the person gets over time. As the amount of sleep increases, the severity of the mania tends to decrease. Sleep is an indicator for resolution of a manic episode, among other things.

Even a Bipolar II patient - one who is hypo manic, but does not lose judgment or insight, can go many days without sleep and feel perfectly fine.

I'm not trying to be contrary or argumentative - I am just sharing many, many years of experience.

And, for the record, Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar disorder are two very different conditions. About the only common feature between the two is irritability and reckless behavior. Bipolar manics are reckless in an uncontrolled, impulsive manner - a borderline generally knows EXACTLY what she is doing... and is doing it for a reason. Borderlines are impulsive and have very poor judgment, and often end up dead just trying to get some attention. There is little "reason" in the behavior of a person who is manic.

Again - I'm not trying to argue - but I am sharing what I know via many, many years in the mental health profession.

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The psychiatrist is part of his new dual diagnosis IOP.

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That's great that he has a doctor who is trained in dealing with dually diagnosed patients. How is your husband doing now that he's been through rehab and is being treated for bipolar disorder?

Exactly. Only my husband had either uneducated doctors or quacks that just didn't care as long as the got their $$$. He told all three that he used meth, pills, and pot. They still diagnosed him and gave him so many pills it would make a pharmacist's head spin. One pill being klonopin that he abused. Hence, the reason my husband doesn't trust psychiatrists.

The last Dr. prescribed him depakote, lexapro, and risperadol. That was after my husband had quit, but he had only been clean two weeks. It took at least 6 months before I could tell a difference without the meth. They said the risperadol helps with nightmares and using dreams. Has anyone else heard that?