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Poll Did You Self-diagnose?

Did you self-diagnose?

  • I noticed my own behavior and self-diagnosed

    Votes: 17 16.2%
  • I described my feelings to a doctor/therapist and they diagnosed me

    Votes: 59 56.2%
  • A loved one noticed my behavior and encouraged me to seek help from a doctor/therapist

    Votes: 8 7.6%
  • Other--list below!

    Votes: 21 20.0%

  • Total voters
    105
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Please help me out by letting me know how your diagnosis came about. Did you recognize symptoms in yourself and self-diagnose? Did you describe your symptoms to a doctor and they diagnosed you? Or did a loved one notice your behavior and tell you to seek help? Or is your story different? Let me know!
 
I didn't self diagnose and that is very dangerous to do for any illness, especially a mental illness.

I may be wrong but this sounds like you are promoting self diagnosing or at least saying it is ok to do and it's not.

Even BPD that I suspected I had years before my diagnosis. I suspected. I didn't tell people I had BPD until my diagnosis by a qualified therapist.

One of the issue with self diagnosis, there are MANY disorders that have many of the same symptoms. What if you are wrong?
 
I was in alcohol recovery for quite a long time and describing events. A person from Washington state with a history of abuse recognized that what I was describing was disassociation and began questioning me about abuse history. I was encouraged to pursue it as in sobriety I was not getting "better" though sober. I came here a few months or so prior to going back to therapy and ultimately receiving diagnosis. People close to me wanted me to be alcoholic or crazy or depressive... but I had PTSD. No easy ride.
 
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I was diagnosed by my therapist. I held the same common misconceptions a lot of people have about PTSD before my diagnosis. Since I didn't dive under tables or into ditches from loud noises, it had never even occurred to me. I am grateful for the proper labeling of it though, as it has helped me to seek resources on my own time and understand symptoms and healing.

I agree with the above that self diagnosing is not a good idea. You'll find that is also a common theme on this site. (That self diagnosing can be problematic.)
 
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I don't have PTSD. I'm fine, dammit. >.>

I've been diagnosed a few times. First in the military. Later when I tried to do drug&alcohol treatment (hilarity did not ensue). A few other times here & there. Mostly when I was trying to do something completely different // aka wasn't trying to get help for PTSD but for some totally unrelated <cough> kind of thing. Shrug. I can get a bit stubborn. Trauma? Pfft. Bite me. I'm fine.

I marked other, as none of the times I was diagnosed were my seeking diagnosis. In point of fact, the first time I was diagnosed was a solid year before I thought anything was wrong. And then I avoided anything PTSD or trauma related for the next 15 some odd years. Even though I knew I had it (PTSD? That's nightmares & shit, right? Yeah. Panic attacks, oh joy oh rapture. Whatever.), I didn't really understand what it was until about 2 years ago. So from somewhere in 96-98 to 2014? Roughly.
 
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