How Important Is Having A Diagnosis To You?

[Lucycat]

I was glad of my diagnosis - as it meant I was not going crazy after all. Additionally when I was asked to provide a Victim Impact Statement for the court case, I think it had more clout when it contained a diagnosis rather than saying I was simply 'distressed' by events.

 

[Bedbug]

My diagnosis was very important. It meant that I wasn't going crazy, it showed me that I am not alone, it pointed towards treatment options and it introduced me to some new friends.

 

[The Albatross]

Hmmm. Mixed bag for me. Yeah it wasn't a figment of my imagination, but it was chronic. I had a particular difficulty at first, squaring up the effort needed to cope effectively being more than the 'normals' around me in order to get by or be successful each day. Resented it too more than a little.

Now it's all about how I handle adversity. Much easier to deal with as people around me are also coping or learning how to deal with it.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

Getting diagnosed was very important to me. I thought I was going crazy for a long time. The diagnosis not only validated that I was struggling but it validated that I was struggling with a normal response to abnormal experiences such as abuse. It meant that I wasn't crazy. It meant that what I felt and did had a name and a reason. It meant that I could be helped in some way. It turned the light on for me so that I could kind of see into the darkness. And as my therapist says "mold grows in the dark".

 

[Hashi]

It's been useful in some ways, particularly as a shortcut to finding things like this forum. Also, like @Lucycat said, to add clout in some situations. In my case it was when having to make special arrangements at work.

Other than that, the acceptance that I experienced trauma has been more helpful than the diagnosis of PTSD. I think a PTSD diagnosis can hinder in some ways, especially because it's also a prognosis and a very limiting one.

For me, the realisation of trauma was separate from the PTSD diagnosis, which came later anyway. The books and therapists who've helped me have all been around trauma wounds and healing, not PTSD. For me, it's a significant distinction. The PTSD diagnosis serves a purpose. I don't see it as an identity.

 

[DharmaGirl]

wrong that everyone experienced but just didn't talk about

That was a key phrase in my childhood. I thought everyone believed what I believed but just didn't talk about it. I thought the nuns secretly believed in reincarnation, that everyone was as stressed as I was, that contemplating suicide and trying to kill yourself was a normal thing for a 6 - 8 year old. Yikes.

 

[Abstract]

Yikes.

Yikes indeed @monster1977