Self Diagnosis Is Not An Option

[k.c. gregory]

The term mental illness is probably one of the most degrading, despicable vile and derogatory label that professionals and therapists bandy around and once labelled can be used to take someones sovereignty away from them. I think this is evil.

It is evil. I went through a deep depression after diagnosis. So, I've had this hard won good life but now.."Hate to tell you but you're mentally ill!" It was a deep spiral that took months to did out of with many med adjustments. This disease really sucks.

 

[k.c. gregory]

I hate the new painting of myself post diagnosis but I know I would be dead if not for the support and love of those in my helping deal with PTSD. I want the beautiful loving life I have build and I know that would not be possible without information and places like this forum.

 

[angel2write]

I don't know... I think there might be some use for a sort of temporary self-diagnosis.

I went for years and years and years misdiagnosed by people who didn't know what they were doing. Professional people. It was only when I started researching sexual abuse, and then following links to PTSD, and then finding this site and reading articles, that I was able to request a therapist with experience in this area and GET an actual diagnosis. I'm afraid if I had waited on the pros to figure it out, I would still be flailing around with a diagnosis of "depression" or Borderline Personality Disorder (which I do not, by the way, HAVE, thanks for nothing.)

Part of the problem was having no cash and having to depend on free psych resources, I'm sure. Students doing their internships are still full of book learning and have a harder time spotting what an experienced person would see quickly. Anyhow... just venting.

 

[anthony]

Nope... disagree with the self diagnosis, however; I would not consider students assessment as a diagnosis, so in your case, I can see your point, but the moment you went to someone with actual experience and qualification, they got you right. Saying that... students also tend to diagnose by the book, so they more than likely got it right by the book, but if you are constantly seeing a different person each time, that is where the issue lay, because an actual diagnosis for PTSD should only be given after 3 - 5 contact hours (from memory) with the same physician (psychiatrist / psychologist).

Even going to a professional with experience, something like PTSD should not be the first diagnosis explored, as mental health doctrine is a process. Some cases a trained eye can just go, yep, PTSD... but if that is not the case, then it must be an evaluation process and even trial and error, as PTSD is the last option on the list pretty much.

Sorry... but I disagree that any online assessment tool for PTSD, and most mental health disorders actually, could be close to accurate. Gauging symptoms is only half of a PTSD diagnosis, and that is all an online assessment focuses upon, symptoms and whether someone believes they have endured an event of significance to meet criterion A. Online assessments are pretty much giving people the misrepresentation of self diagnosis.

 

[angel2write]

That doesn't excuse the licensed counselor I saw for a year and a half who never gave me any sort of diagnosis beyond depression. One of the students I saw for nine months. She was a psychology masters student doing her intern work. She said it was the BPD.

I think one of the difficulties was that my memory was so fragmented I didn't have a "trauma" they could specifically point to, which is a requirement for PTSD. Although really, ANYONE with any experience with childhood sexual abuse could have picked it up from the symptoms and my history. I'm still not sure why it took so many years and so much work on my part to connect the dots.

Grrr... I'm not trying to be hostile, or to argue with you, Anthony. I guess I'm just angry because I wasted so many years and hurt my family so much because no one could see what was happening to me.

 

[anthony]

That doesn't excuse the licensed counselor I saw for a year and a half who never gave me any sort of diagnosis beyond depression.

Counselors can't diagnose... unless their a psychologist or psychiatrist.

I think one of the difficulties was that my memory was so fragmented I didn't have a "trauma" they could specifically point to, which is a requirement for PTSD. Although really, ANYONE with any experience with childhood sexual abuse could have picked it up from the symptoms and my history. I'm still not sure why it took so many years and so much work on my part to connect the dots.

How exactly would experience create a trauma for you, so that they could legally diagnose you with PTSD? All the analytic experience in the world couldn't tell you the answer to your symptoms, only you can divulge that information, not the physician. They would have lost their license if they guessed you had childhood abuse.

You answered your own question... you didn't meet criterion A, so therefor you could not be diagnosed with PTSD at that time. When something came back to you that allowed you to remember an event or someone confirmed an event for you, now criterion A existed.

Don't worry, I know your not arguing, you are trying to resolve. I get it... trust me on that one please.

 

[Anthropologicashewire]

Please read diagnostic criteria for ASD: [DLMURL]http://www.ptsdforum.org/c/wiki/acute-stress-disorder/[/DLMURL]

I completely disagree with you as there are so many people going undiagnosed who fit this criteria. It is not a private exclusive club. I only realized what was happening with me after I read the book Trauma and Recovery. I have seen two counselors and was diagnosed with panic, ocd ect. because of what I experienced. I suppose that being asked out by one of them during therapy was about as helpful as a diagnosis. I was physically, emotionally and sexually abused throughout my childhood and never ever once understood why I felt what I did. Nothing seemed to fit. I ended up in a severely abusive relationship as an adult that replicated my childhood experiences and never ever did any diagnosis make more sense to me than this. How dare you think anyone cannot think for themselves and understand themselves more readily than a stranger? Do you suppose that some have no insurance and others have terrible experiences with people who really should not be practicing? People are not stupid and it is not fun to live your entire life not knowing there are others like you and that there IS help. I earned a degree in psychology trying to fix myself and save the world. I think you should see that the diagnosis is actually less relevant than finding a group of people who share the same symptoms and experiences. What should we call it when it is the same thing?
Edit: Let us call it the same thing but sshhhh...keep it a secret or pay 100 dollars an hour for it. Complex ptsd needs to not be a special diagnosis but a screaming symbol of so many lost souls out there who have no voice or way to a therapist enlightened enough to figure it out.

 

[anthony]

I have no idea why you are quoting ASD and then responding as you have... and then you state you're a psychologist, which just makes even less sense to me again. Are you just being argumentative for the sake of it, or is there an actual point in the ramblings above aimed at myself in relation to this threads topic?

 

[Anthropologicashewire]

Sorry I was so rude in my reply.

 

[Cheshire]

Here I was thinking perhaps you had another side of the argument that I could potentially look into and think deeper about, and you come back with:

perhaps I felt like it.

Disillusioned here. That's all.

 

[angel2write]

I am not a psychologist because I have a psychology degree. I would have stated it differently. I just disagree with you and perhaps I felt like it.

While I do agree with some of what you said above, I also agree with Cheshire that that last bit sounded kind of snarky. No need to get defensive!

 

[Anthropologicashewire]

sorry.