Discussion Anybody else hate being assigned disorders?

[Triangle]

I recognize that I have major depression, but I don't really "accept" other disorders I've been told I have. I don't think it's fair that I'm told that I have social anxiety when I can feel perfectly calm speaking to others so long as I'm in a calm mood. Just because I'm avoidant and nervous in times when I'm already feeling vulnerable doesn't mean I'm inherently anxious in social situations—everybody gets in moods where it's overwhelming to interact with others. I mostly resent being told I'm autistic or variants of the spectrum because of my personality. People are allowed to be bad at cooking, singing, drawing, etc. and they don't suddenly have "culinary disorder" or something like that, but I'm not very good at communicating in certain ways and suddenly I have a disorder? There's "something wrong" with me because I just don't have that one particular skill? That doesn't seem fair at all.

People are so stuck on trying to match personal difficulties with mental disorders and I can't stand the mindset. I feel like I'm being constantly told "there's something wrong with you, you're dysfunctional, you're broken" for simply having individual difficulties. Even when people aren't trying to be disrespectful and aren't trying to imply mental illness is bad, it just feels like my flaws are being made into huge problems.

People rarely seem willing to be supportive of mental illness either. They'll say that they respect mental health, but the kneejerk response to anything related is just "get a therapist, talk to loved ones, eat medicine." What if I'm lacking caring people in my life and been traumatized by detrimental therapists and medication? Nobody is willing to tackle that question, not even therapists it seems. I used to be told by psychologists that I had OCD, PTSD, some obscure autistic disorder, and other things, but they wouldn't offer any treatment for it (I did ask) and just told me I had it. It feels so pointless to be labeled at all when you can't access help for those disorders anyway.

Anyone else tired of the mental illness labels?

 

[charlottewilts]

i concur. i've had numerous disorders tacked on me, some of them literally within an hour of speaking to a "professional". the ease with which they hand out their diagnoses and pills is appalling, and one of the many reasons why psychiatry is a total sham. and as you mention, people will pretend to be understanding, but they'll see you differently if they're aware of your mental illness. it's especially a hindrance in the workplace.

the only label i embrace is BPD, since it makes me who i am (or to put it more accurately, the lack of an "i"). also, welcome to SS. you'll find many others disillusioned with psychiatry here.

 

[Triangle]

I remember having a psychiatrist when I was around 9 or 10, who would listen to me for an hour and then respond with "take sleeping pills." Feeling lonely? Sleeping pills. Low self-esteem? Sleeping pills. Getting bullied at school? That's because you didn't take enough sleeping pills, you should have some more.

Psychiatrists are the worst of the "mental health professionals" group in my experience because of their eagerness to present a drug as a solution to problems that have deeper roots. They always seem astonished when a pill doesn't magically make me feel amazing.

I do relate to how certain labels can be good to represent and identify yourself, though. But I also think that contributes to how unhelpful it can be to carelessly hand them out, potentially misrepresenting someone. Often the reaction I would get from people is something like "what do you mean this thing didn't help you feel better? It helped this other person, who also had this disorder."

(Thanks for the welcome!)

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

"Culinary Disorder" -- I laughed out loud!

Your posts in this thread are dead on. Seems like your only major problem is that you are negatively impacted by toxicity. What's that old quote about it not being a sign of health if one does well in profoundly unhealthy environments?

Anyhow, I bet psychiatrists have secret labels they really diagnose us by:

Seeing through bullshit -- "Visual Acuity Disorder"

Hating other people's controlling bullshit -- "Uncontrollable Disorder"

Not accepting bullshit -- "Unacceptable Disorder"

Not agreeing to bullshit -- "Disagreeable Disorder"

Major depression -- "Awareness of Reality Disorder"

Being okay with yourself -- "Severe Sheeplessness Disorder"