I have been living on the shadow of having mental ilnesses that keep me from having a normal life since i was 10 years old. I went to see a psychologist by that time but she didn't make any relevant diagnosis. I know i have either Asperger's or Borderline to add to other things like OCD and more.
I don't have it in me to go to a psychiatrist but i'm dying to know the name of what my mental disorders, not because it is important but more to be able to speak with people with the same problem in order to get a better picture of the role i will probably end up having on society.
Can i pull of a diagnosis by just comparing my personality to people with mental disorders and finding similarities?
If you're unable to go to a professional this time then it would be best if you could keep track of your mental health or potential symptoms daily, then show your records to the psychologist when you can. How do you know you have the disorders that you mentioned? Were you officially diagnosed or are you just suspecting?
If you're unable to go to a professional this time then it would be best if you could keep track of your mental health or potential symptoms daily, then show your records to the psychologist when you can. How do you know you have the disorders that you mentioned? Were you officially diagnosed or are you just suspecting?
I am able to go but i don´t really want to, even though i probably should. I´m just suspecting, but i have been suspecting ever since i was a teenager. But keeping track of all my symptoms might be a very good idea. I have thought of it in the past and i will probably do it. Thanks for your help!
I am able to go but i don´t really want to, even though i probably should. I´m just suspecting, but i have been suspecting ever since i was a teenager. But keeping track of all my symptoms might be a very good idea. I have thought of it in the past and i will probably do it. Thanks for your help!
You could probably diagnose yourself with all sorts of things reading stuff like that. Everyone suffers from mental health issues to one degree or another and everyone is influenced by developmental issues. The professionals give people labels so they can treat them with the medication associated with that label.
The reality is unfortunately more complicated.
So yes, you could study things like that, but be careful. It takes a strong intellectual ability to discard bias to accurately diagnose yourself with mental illness. As much as I don't like shrinks, hate being labelled and refuse to take medications, there is no better alternative to a professional opinion, even if you choose to disregard it.
I definitely wouldn't self diagnose yourself with anything. The mind is so incredibly complicated. A doctor or professional really needs to evaluate you to make a diagnosis. I'm pretty sure all of us could check all the boxes of clinical depression from reading about it, it doesn't mean that we all have it. There could be any number of other things that are the problem, hiding as depression or OCD or whatever it is you think you have. Getting professionally diagnosed is the first proper step if you're looking for medicine or treatments to help you. People dedicate their lives to the study of the mind and body, they know much more then we do about it, and we should respect that. If somebody gives you just the blueprints to a house, could you actually build it? Or would you need to use professional builders who knows how to read and implement those blueprints? That kind of thing. Maybe you could build the house/ correctly self diagnose...but if you're seriously curious or want some professional help, I would get their opinions.
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There is a reason physicians don't treat family members or close friends. They can lose their objectivity. If the professionals won't do it, us amateurs should not.
As hard as it may seem, it's time to see the doctor (or, depending on where you live, get on the waiting list.) It should take more than one visit and you'll have to share honestly if you want real results.
It seems to me, you're looking for ways to shape your life going forward. You can do that without a diagnosis. There are books and resources that are geared to specific illnesses, but how you shape your life is ultimately up to you.
A quick note about medication: there are folks here who are violently opposed to the use of psych meds. There are others, including me, who credit them with a great deal of our survival or success. Don't let anyone sway you. Try them or not, continue them or not, it's your journey. Whatever you decide, there's support here.
Best of luck to you.
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Sensei, Donk, Deleted member 1465 and 1 other person
There is a reason physicians don't treat family members or close friends. They can lose their objectivity. If the professionals won't do it, us amateurs should not.
As hard as it may seem, it's time to see the doctor (or, depending on where you live, get on the waiting list.) It should take more than one visit and you'll have to share honestly if you want real results.
It seems to me, you're looking for ways to shape your life going forward. You can do that without a diagnosis. There are books and resources that are geared to specific illnesses, but how you shape your life is ultimately up to you.
A quick note about medication: there are folks here who are violently opposed to the use of psych meds. There are others, including me, who credit them with a great deal of our survival or success. Don't let anyone sway you. Try them or not, continue them or not, it's your journey. Whatever you decide, there's support here.
I find it very hard to be there sharing very delicate and private details of my life with someone i don't even know.
I was prescribed Sertraline upon the diagnosis of a neurological condition last year by the neurologist who did the diagnosis, but i never took it. She also advised me to seek a psychiatrist because i made the mistake of revealing that i had suicidal thoughts.
Fortunately for me, when she asked me if i had a method, i told her "euthanasia", and she probably discarded it, because who the hell will euthanise an apparently physically healthy 23 year old, right?
I find it very hard to be there sharing very delicate and private details of my life with someone i don't even know.
I was prescribed Sertraline upon the diagnosis of a neurological condition last year by the neurologist who did the diagnosis, but i never took it. She also advised me to seek a psychiatrist because i made the mistake of revealing that i had suicidal thoughts.
Fortunately for me, when she asked me if i had a method, i told her "euthanasia", and she probably discarded it, because who the hell will euthanise an apparently physically healthy 23 year old, right?
But you must, if you want these answers. That is the price, if you will, of the information you seek.
And you must not know them. If they know you well, he or she cannot be objective and cannot really help you.
There is nothing - NOTHING - they have not heard.
You also seem to have the expectation that they cannot separate their work from their personal feelings about you. It's not about who you are as a potential friend. You are a patient, and they are there to help. It's a very different relationship than the one you are picturing. They're not asking questions because they are trying to form a personal opinion about you.
And you can tell them that it's something you don't really want to talk about. They're not going to put you on a rack and torture you to get information. They are used to people who are nervous, afraid, hell even TERRIFIED to be there. It's okay to be scared and it's okay to tell them so.
I hope that you'll answer me honestly, because I genuinely want to help you. What are you so afraid of? What is that you think will happen if you tell them about yourself?
Forced drugging?
Commitment?
A call to the police who will lock you up?
Becoming dinner party conversation?
Laughter?
Having him or her make fun of you?
I am not a psychiatrist, but I have had many. Some were basically pill pushers, but I usually knew that's why I was going there. One was an ass. I saw him for as long as I needed to, and then I found another. But I had one who was awesome. His care has made such a difference in my life. He genuinely cared, and I knew it. I knew that he had my best interests in mind, always. He sectioned me once. I needed it. When I moved, he stayed with me until I found a new doc in my area. I miss him.
There might be someone out there who can make that kind of difference for you.
i'm dying to know the name of what my mental disorders, not because it is important but more to be able to speak with people with the same problem in order to get a better picture of the role i will probably end up having on society.
Can i pull of a diagnosis by just comparing my personality to people with mental disorders and finding similarities?
In the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5),{ref4} BPD is diagnosed on the basis of (1) a pervasive pattern of instabil... more
But BPD is trauma-based. It's a set of maladaptive coping behaviors and perceptions based on repeated boundary violations in the developmental years. It would serve just as much to research trauma theory and treatment.
I was in mental health treatment off and on for over 20 years, therapy and psychiatric. I also worked four years in community mental health and my best friends were thereapists and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I have had a variety of diagnoses, and only at the end did it become clear that what I needed was effective treatment for trauma. I was diagnosed with ADHD, then depression and anxiety, then self-diagnosed bipolar and had to fight to find someone to agree, then rapid-cycling type II bipolar, for which meds helped for a long time, then at last PTSD and dissociation. What helped the most was not diagnoses, but treatments that acknowledged and addressed the effects of trauma, especially EMDR, energy psychology techniques, DBT, and boundary work. I have been off meds for years and am no worse without them, am in fact better because of healing many of the root causes, the traumas. My self-work is ongoing, but I developed effective tools because the root causes were recognized instead of hyperfocusing on diagnostic labels and criteria.
Therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists rely on a shaky system of diagnoses based on grouping together behaviors and traits. With rare exceptions like schizophrenia, they cannot be diagnosed physically, and they don't even do brain scans to try. They often diagnose based on what medications do and do not work. It is not the same as allopathic medicine with physical causes, which is also fallible but far less so. Personally, and as you can probably tell, I do not put mental health practitioners on a pedestal, I find them to be very fallible, as all humans are. They're not special, they're not gods, they have knowledge I may not, but I can study their sources as well as they can and figure my own self out. Over the decades, I have done just as much if not more for myself than they have based on my own tenacity to research, figure out what works for me, and eventually empower myself to be the one in charge of my healing and well-being.
Eff the labels. You can use them to help you figure things out, but I hope you won't let them define you. You're the only one who can accurately do that, of course it may take time to be able to do so, but you can.
That's my opinion.
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