How Does Having Or Not Having A Diagnosis Make You Feel?

[Coffee Cup Kid]

I have been in therapy for two and a half years and don't have a diagnosis.
I go for things pertaining to complex trauma.
I don't know does a diagnosis help or not. My T uses the word trauma and traumatised without hesitation but is very slow to give a diagnosis, and is not a doctor (though accredited) and is not qualified to give one.

I don't know do I need a diagnosis but sometimes I wish I had one. I hate how when I tell people I'm in therapy I don't have a "thing" to say. I don't like how I am "treated" every week and I don't even know what the heck for. I think that in a physical treatment they'd consider it crazy to treat someone without establishing what is wrong.

My T disagrees with what she calls giving people labels. She would have to refer me on to someone if I wanted a diagnosis but I think would have problems.

What do you think?

 

[Suzetig]

I have mixed feelings about it, I was in treatment for a long time before my GP diagnosed me, my therapy was done privately and while we've consistency worked on trauma she too didn't want to label me and, as a therapist in the UK that wouldn't generally be her role. I found the work we did effective without a diagnosis, I knew what was wrong and so did she but I think my personality is such that a diagnosis would have given me a reason to be "sick" if that makes sense.

What you tell other people about your therapy is your business, you can say as much or as little as you like. Even with a diagnosis I don't tend to tell people, it's something private to me and unless I'm really symptomatic other people don't need to know.

 

[Anrish]

I also have mixed feelings. I try to work without the diagnosis. I've got PTSD from my point of view but according to most T's ...my incidents weren't heavy enough so it's just a adaptive disorder. Diagnosis might help in some ways but can also put the focus on wrong stuff or misguide.

 

[Crow]

My psychiatrist didn't want to give me a diagnosis but insurance requires it. She started off with bipolar but over the years, and with more training on her side, changed it to ptsd. It's actually cptsd but the dsm doesn't recognize that as a real diagnosis. I could care less. As long as I'm getting the appropriate modality of therapy to help me live a more balanced existence, I'm good with whatever.

 

[Anarchy]

I don't have a formal diagnosis and wouldn't want one either.

Diagnoses give an illusion of certainty, where non exists. Trials of repeatability for different practitioners looking at the same people
Even when highly trained practitioners are doing it under ideal conditions, in trials for new editions of the DSM, and who are looking at something as blatant as psychoses
Give results that are little better than diagnosing by tossing a coin ( once chance agreement is corrected for, agreement is typically 60% or below).

Having a label can feel validating to some people who's suffering has previously been met with minimisation and shaming by family, teachers, colleagues etc. I just got a little bit of that effect in the past couple of weeks, realising that I have a genuine reason for having suffered so many joint problems, which I was previously shamed for.

However, under the currently popular chemical imbalance paradigm, a diagnosis should ( in theory) suggest a chemical treatment. For some of the complex/ developmental trauma people, they can easily end up with list of half a dozen or more BS diagnoses and a similar list of drugs to poison themselves on ( we just got a new member today, traumatised by a life threatening reaction to meds).

 

[7Cs]

Early on I was diagnosed with mood disorder nos ( pretty much rapid cycling bipolar). I'm glad to have an accurate dx now. It helps me understand that I'm not crazy. I'm also able to explain to the people that matter why I act the way I do sometimes. People tend to have more compassion when they know the symptoms come from trauma rather than being bipolar or borderline. Not to mention I have more compassion for myself as well.

 

[Panda Bear]

I do have a formal PTSD diagnosis, but my T actually commented on this subject a few weeks ago. Yes, my diagnosis is PTSD and I do meet the criteria, but he sees it, and address my issues from a trauma perspective. He dislikes the label greatly(but is bound to it in order to bill my insurance) and always refers to trauma when talking specifically about what we're discussing.

Diagnosis or not, I need my trauma treated and I need to get better. If I didn't have a 'formal' diagnosis for whatever reason, it wouldn't matter....I still need to care and change my past hurt and pains. My label or possible lack their of, doesn't change the fact that my T is highly qualified and trained to treat my PTSD.

Oh...and no matter what my problem is, I don't tell people why I go to therapy. At least not people I don't know VERY well.

 

[Ronin]

I don't care as much for what's in the papers if it isn't wildly inaccurate & misleading & writing me off & leading to a denial of help even when I'm very clear about what my issues, needs, history, and wants for treatment are.

Oops, well, there we go where the system & me don't work together.

(Or: I'm more miffed with malpractice and stigmatizing and wildly inaccurate labeling, than what anyone's approach to trauma is concretely as a starting point. It would be nice to find someone who does grok trauma and PTSD at all, which I've been struggling with.)

 

[Klo]

I think some therapists avoid using labels, because they're afraid that the client will start subconsciously trying to mold themselves to the label. Things psychological tend to be on a continuum and such. Plus I also think that people who dissociate a lot due to trauma are more vulnerable to being manipulated or to in essence 'absorbing' their reality from influence, rather than drawing upon their internal truths. One way therapists might try to avoid this is to try to have the client always use their own words for everything, and never substitute their own words or experiences with what would be typical or expected based on X label.

But yeah it is still annoying.

 

[Anarchy]

A friend who is on the full blown autism end of aspergers, found exactly what @Klo is describing, when they explored asperger- autism sites a few years back.

In friend' words, they were full of brats, using aspergers as an excuse for not even trying things.

"Oh, I can't do that because..."
Rather then
"Yeah, I struggle a bit with that"

This site really doesn't seem to tolerate that kin of excuse making. Someone usually points to the distortion if it appears.

 

[Klo]

A friend who is on the full blown autism end of aspergers, found exactly what @Klo is...

Well there is that sort of nonsense, for sure, but I meant more so the unintentional sort of absorbing. I don't like it, but if I'm being honest, then I must admit that I am pretty easy to manipulate half the time. I usually realize it has happened at some point, and then get really ticked off, but it can still happen regardless. I believe it is because of how strongly I tend to dissociate and do the whole "appeasement" thing as a survival mechanism. I would imagine that some others with trauma and dissociative tendencies might have the same issue (guess I could be wrong, though).

But anyway it would be pretty easy for a psych professional to give me a pseudo-disorder by convincing me that I have it, because my mind might easily go along with whatever they think and then twist my perceptions to fit it. This could happen completely on accident by a careless professional. So I believe that more vigilant and careful professionals might avoid labels, especially with people who have experienced trauma, to try to keep that from happening - i.e. the patient subconsciously tries to fit a mold in an effort to appease the therapist.

 

[Tinyflame]

I think there's a relief to find you're an apple surrounded by apples, or a pear surrounded by pears. Never before was virtually all of what I felt, experienced & much of what made me tick so 'normal', & explicable (a great relief. I'm actually glad when something doesn't fit). Especially if there's things to 'do' for it. But otherwise it would be terribly stigmatizing/ black-balling. I've also learned though, because actually, it's easier for me to opt for denial.