How Do I Get A Diagnosis?

[mouseteeth]

Can somebody just walk me through the process?
Should I seek a therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist? How should I pick someone out, a simple Google search? I know people often recommend getting a referral from a general practitioner, but my insurance has changed so much over the years that I really don't have my own regular, general doctor anymore. I'd rather not have to seek one out right now just to be a middleman, thus making me have to wait even longer.
I've never done this before. It's funny though, I've been depressed for most of my life. In school I was constantly made to see the school counselor. not because they cared about my well-being, they never asked me anything about myself or how I felt, they just pestered me about why I had no plans for college or future. Then as a teen my mother forced me to see her own counselor, and she acted like it was a punishment. It did nothing for me, that counselor just patronized me.
So yeah, I appreciate any advice at all.

 

[Emily_Numb]

It really depends on the country you are in. In the UK, only a psychiatrist can diagnose you with a mental illness. A psychologist is a a non- medical psychiatrist, without the ability to prescribe drugs. A GP in the UK would really only ever give you a general 'depression' diagnosis and prescribe you antidepressants.
If you want to find out if you have a mental illness/mood or personality disorder, my advice would be to go and see a psychiatrist. You will generally need more than one appointment for them to diagnose you. After that you typically meet with them for medication reviews and your 'therapy' care is generally from a licensed therapist or psychologist. That's how it works here.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

It depends on the issues and how you, not the practitioner, wants to address them.

A psychiatrist will usually address all issues with meds, even if the diagnosis is resistant to med treatments. A trauma-based therapist will address trauma that is the root of issues experienced. A psychologist has more education than a therapist but is not necessarily better than a therapist.

I recommend Psychology Today to do a therapist/psychologist search if they provide listings for where you live. You can get a feel for who you're drawn to and research the modalities they use to see which ones resonate. If not available for your area, you can still search in other areas to get a feel for treatment modalities.

 

[TAW122]

I would say a psychotherapist/psychologist would be a good person to get a diagnosis from. As for medicine, psychiatrist would be the person to seek for prescriptions to get medicine from. I wish you the best and hope you are able to find what you are looking for.