Diagnosis as a self-fulfilling prophecy?

[wannabeasuperhero]

I feel that overly identifying with mental health diagnoses is a roadblock to recovery disguised as a helping hand. for example, I have major depressive disorder on my medical charts, but if I get too in my head about being a person with a capital-D Disorder, I find myself acting in a way that leads to more depressed feelings. it's like a justification to eat poorly, sleep poorly, and hate life if I wake up in the morning and think "ugh, another day with MDD, how can I possibly go on?"
this probably varies but I see it in my peer group often— people justifying internet addictions because of their ADHD, people acting out more once they receive a BPD diagnosis, etc. it seems like a tendency to view ourselves as helpless, sick victims who must act in a certain way if our behavior has been branded as one pathology or another.
has anyone here noticed similar behaviors in yourself or others? how do you feel about being diagnosed and how it affects your self-perception and attitude?

 

[ljknljnlkjn]

I feel so as well. I feel like my MDD has gotten worse since the diagnosis and ADHD too

 

[AllCatsAreGrey]

I can see what you're saying. When I was first diagnosed with cPTSD I feel like it aggregated my symptoms at first. This makes sense as at first there was a heavy period of learning about it and myself.

Your point about "helpless, sick victims" is interesting. It makes me think of Thomas Szasz and his notion of "the myth of mental illness". Basically he proposed that mental illnesses are not diseases of the body. They are more of a metaphor to explain troublesome, unwanted behaviors. The metaphor of mental illness often legitimizes social order - making those that don't fit the mold "sick". This is especially true in involuntary institutional treatment.

I have found the metaphor of mental illness can be useful in helping to learn about how others manage a condition similar to mine, but I don't feel it's a literal disease. Behavior is complex and many factors come into play, more than just being "sick in the brain".

I find this helps a bit with reducing identifying with my diagnosis, but using it as a way to learn more about my behaviors and minimizing their burden.

 

[wannabeasuperhero]

I really like the metaphor framing. that seems like a helpful mindset shift. :)

 

[four-trees]

I think that sometimes things can get worse before they get better. When I was first diagnosed with MDD and PTSD, etc, it felt like my symptoms were flaring worse than before and controlling my entire life. But with time as I learned more about myself and found more coping methods and things to identify with, that affect lessened a little. I think there is also a tendency to make a diagnosis a part of one's identity as a way to make sense of things. It is understandable, but clinging to pathology for a sense of self has certainly made me guilty of the victimhood perspective you've described, more than once, unfortunately. I think who I hung around with/what media I consumed also affected this.

 

[AllCatsAreGrey]

I think that sometimes things can get worse before they get better. When I was first diagnosed with MDD and PTSD, etc, it felt like my symptoms were flaring worse than before and controlling my entire life. But with time as I learned more about myself and found more coping methods and things to identify with, that affect lessened a little. I think there is also a tendency to make a diagnosis a part of one's identity as a way to make sense of things. It is understandable, but clinging to pathology for a sense of self has certainly made me guilty of the victimhood perspective you've described, more than once, unfortunately. I think who I hung around with/what media I consumed also affected this.

I really appreciate your point regarding consideration of "who I hung out with/ media I consumed". This is really insightful and highlights an area where we can make choices to shift our environment and mood.

This makes me think of a point I recently heard on a philosophy podcast that was discussing habits. That being that habits don't exist in a vacuum. They are usually clusters of habits. By shifting contextual habits we can gradually change the habit of concern. It's an ecological approach that I find interesting.

 

[NumbItAll]

I agree, I look at a diagnosis as a description of symptoms and behaviors, which can possibly change. It does not define a person, since people are much more complicated than simple, subjective labels. I know some people feel relieved when they get an "official" diagnosis because it offers a simple explanation for their situation, and I also used to feel that way, but I am now past the point of wanting one.

 

[sserafim]

I feel that overly identifying with mental health diagnoses is a roadblock to recovery disguised as a helping hand. for example, I have major depressive disorder on my medical charts, but if I get too in my head about being a person with a capital-D Disorder, I find myself acting in a way that leads to more depressed feelings. it's like a justification to eat poorly, sleep poorly, and hate life if I wake up in the morning and think "ugh, another day with MDD, how can I possibly go on?"
this probably varies but I see it in my peer group often— people justifying internet addictions because of their ADHD, people acting out more once they receive a BPD diagnosis, etc. it seems like a tendency to view ourselves as helpless, sick victims who must act in a certain way if our behavior has been branded as one pathology or another.
has anyone here noticed similar behaviors in yourself or others? how do you feel about being diagnosed and how it affects your self-perception and attitude?

I have ADHD, Asperger's/autism (ASD), and social anxiety and like there's no cure for the most debilitating one out of them though (ASD), so…it's nice to know why I'm so weird, have always felt like an alien on this earth, and have never fit in anywhere or connected with people, and have social difficulties but it's annoying because this condition makes my life miserable and there's no medication or treatment for it. These social issues will stay with me for my entire life and the world and society is built on social interaction. I really wish I didn't have these social difficulties. I can't read body languages or social cues, I just innately don't know. They'll always be second nature to me. I just never knew how to socialize with people well. These problems worsened during the pandemic because we were all in isolation, and my little social skills diminished to like zero.