Misdiagnosed: When Neurological Issues Mimic Mental Health Disorders - Neurology

Could it be a misdiagnosis by a psychiatrist?

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I have been suffering from severe insomnia since I was around 16 years old, accompanied by cognitive dysfunction.
At that time, I suddenly found it difficult to understand what I was reading in vocational school and could not comprehend what my teachers were saying in class.
Shortly after, I lost control of my emotions and exhibited violent behavior, which led to my involuntary admission to a psychiatric ward.
Over the following years, I was repeatedly hospitalized in acute care units due to emotional instability.
However, the medications did not improve my emotional issues.
While in the ward, I felt very distressed but held back from expressing my true feelings to the doctors because I just wanted to be discharged quickly.
The doctors noticed some inconsistencies, as I stabilized emotionally almost immediately upon admission.
They even mentioned to my family that they suspected I did not have a mental illness, as psychiatric medications typically do not work that quickly.
In reality, I was the one controlling my emotions because the psychiatric ward was frightening; any sign of emotional instability would lead to restraints and being tied to the bed.
Therefore, it was impossible for me to lose control there; I wasn't that foolish.
After being discharged, I would immediately vent my emotions at home, becoming impatient and angry with my family.
This demonstrated that the medications were ineffective.
The psychiatric ward enforced medication, and if the drugs were effective, I wouldn't have been so emotionally volatile upon returning home.
It wasn't until I was 22 that I began to see a psychiatrist regularly and stabilized on medication.
However, I still had significant issues with memory, comprehension, and attention.
For instance, I needed someone to accompany me to new places because I found it difficult to remember directions after just a few turns.
I often had to repeat routes dozens or even hundreds of times, sometimes memorizing them by rote, such as remembering to turn left or right at certain streets.
I also completely struggled with understanding bus routes; I once spent a long time researching how to navigate them online but eventually gave up.
Initially, the psychiatrist thought I might be suffering from depression, but after several months on antidepressants, my issues did not improve.

Later, after undergoing psychological testing, which indicated an IQ around 100, the doctor changed his perspective and began to believe I lacked confidence.
He thought my cognitive abilities were fine, but I struggled to communicate my actual difficulties.
I genuinely have cognitive impairments; sometimes I need others to repeat themselves for me to understand, and I occasionally find certain words unfamiliar and forget their meanings, requiring others to rephrase things in simpler terms for me to comprehend.
My greatest challenge is learning new things, which requires repeated practice and questioning, and I often forget things shortly after learning them.
My learning ability is genuinely problematic, and I frequently struggle to follow and understand movies.
However, psychological testing ruled out ADHD or ADD, and if I had those issues, they would have manifested in childhood.
My cognitive difficulties began at 16, and I eventually grew tired of debating with that psychiatrist, who believed I was stubbornly insisting I had problems.
He would say, "Well, your intelligence is fine." I felt he only trusted the reports and did not believe what I was saying, which I found very frustrating.
I believe that intelligence and the memory and cognitive skills needed to process information are different, and the psychological evaluation was not comprehensive enough.
Just because one part of my brain functions well does not mean I do not have other cognitive impairments.
Eventually, my diagnosis changed to autism? I became too exhausted to argue with him further, as he insisted I had autistic traits and stubbornly believed I had comprehension issues.
He never considered that he himself was being stubborn by only looking at the reports and not listening to me.
I found the entire situation quite perplexing.
Eventually, I stopped going for follow-ups because I felt each appointment became increasingly meaningless.
After sharing all this, I want to ask if it is possible that what appears to be psychiatric symptoms, but for which medications have little effect, could actually be a neurological issue.
Should I undergo a CT or MRI scan? Are there cases in clinical practice where neurological diseases are misdiagnosed as psychiatric disorders? My situation is genuinely unique, as schizophrenia can also involve cognitive decline.
I once suspected I had issues similar to schizophrenia and asked another doctor about it.
He jokingly remarked that I seemed more like someone with dementia than schizophrenia.
Although he said it half-jokingly, it indicated that my condition is indeed confusing.
That doctor had mentioned I could undergo brain scans, but I have not done so yet.
I increasingly suspect that the psychiatric medications I have been taking are ineffective, as my issues may not stem from neurotransmitter imbalances related to serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine.

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Chen Ting, 20~29 year old female. Ask Date: 2022/03/12