I am not surprised to hear that women are overdiagnosed with mental illnesses (Are women really more mentally ill than men? As a psychologist, I’m not so sure, 8 March). In my 30s, I developed systemic lupus erythematosus, which went undiagnosed for several years, my symptoms wrongly diagnosed by (male) GPs as stress triggered by a high-powered job. I was prescribed an antidepressant that made me hypomanic, and acquired a further diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Eventually I found a GP who listened to me, and blood tests picked up antibodies and other diagnostic indicators for lupus. Apparently it’s common for lupus sufferers to overreact to drugs, but over the next few years a succession of (male) psychiatrists continued to insist I had bipolar disorder. I believed them: my mood invariably deteriorated during flare-ups, and when I was well, I felt wonderful.
