Venting How do i know if i have mental illness or not?

[catbunny]

sometimes I want to go to a therapist and just take a test to see if I really have anything like any other mental health problems, but then I just remembered how bad the therapy is in my area so I don't wanna go and it's actually really kind of expensive to go so I just cut that thought of me, but I really want to know if I have any other problems. I don't want to just self-diagnose it because I'm not a professional and I don't want to like google it and then just assumed it on me. I don't want to have problems. I want to be normal. I want to live like a normal person. I want to feel normal, to be normal, to act normal, to actually understand the normal concept of doing things, of not pacing out, of being normal being a human being that's supposed to be. But I really want to know if I really have any other problems so I can know that and get some rught treatment. But I don't know how to know that. I don't fucking know and that's killing me. Everything is so exhausting. I don't know why I am the way I am, and I can't do anything about it. What am I supposed to do? I need help but there's no one that helping. People are being like these things, these mental things are your problems and you should be the one that knows it. You should be the one that understand you and you are the one that like the only one who can fix it, but I don't know how to fix it. How am I supposed to just do it by myself? how am I supposed to know? There are people going to university to study about it so why do I have to be the one that fix my own problem when they are the one who supposed to help people. that is not even my major. I'm so tired. I just want to disappear. I want to die. I want to disappear, but I cannot.

 

[aallsskksskk]

Hey dear catbunny, I'm sorry you feel this way and that you're going through this rough patch. I definetly understand how you feel, I was in the same place myself a few years ago. It was very scary as well, feeling like something is troubling in life but not being able to figure out if it's really there.

Fast forward a few years, and I've entered the therapy system myself, and I can tell you some lessons I've learned. First, is that therapy is not a test. It's not a scale to see if you're mentally unwell or not. Or to stamp you with a label. Therapy is about learning to be curious about how you feel, and most importantly, why?

While there are professional who learn to do this, I understand your concerns. Yes it's quite expensive, especially depending on where you live and which services you use. But all these people do is just know better how to navigate your mind to see why you feel how you feel.

This is pretty cliche, and forgive me, because I'm sure you've read this many times online, but often these feelings are caused by how you grew up and lived in the past. Maybe a specific event happened and caused you trauma. Maybe your parents were loving, but were a bit misguided. Or sometimes the reason is more obvious, like having abusive parents, a tough upbringing, etc. Therapy helps you figure out why you feel the way you feel today, by trying to question things that happened in the past and how they might have affected the current you.

I hear your struggle. I'm here for you. We're here for you. And sometimes what's better than a therapist is a friend. Someone who you can explain to how you feel, and they can try helping you figure out why.

It's not easy, and won't be for a while. But practice makes perfect

 

[UserFromNowhere]

A psychological evaluation is often done separately from a therapist appointment. Usually takes one to two hours and you'll receive the results at a later date. It's generally only 1-2 appointments and not a consistent thing you have to attend, but you will still receive a diagnosis from it. A therapist referral can be helpful, but it is not necessary, you can either get your PCP to make a referral or pay for it yourself. It can be pretty expensive out of pocket, but if it's what you're looking for, it might work.

 

[Mgelanie]

sometimes I want to go to a therapist and just take a test to see if I really have anything like any other mental health problems, but then I just remembered how bad the therapy is in my area so I don't wanna go and it's actually really kind of expensive to go so I just cut that thought of me, but I really want to know if I have any other problems. I don't want to just self-diagnose it because I'm not a professional and I don't want to like google it and then just assumed it on me. I don't want to have problems. I want to be normal. I want to live like a normal person. I want to feel normal, to be normal, to act normal, to actually understand the normal concept of doing things, of not pacing out, of being normal being a human being that's supposed to be. But I really want to know if I really have any other problems so I can know that and get some rught treatment. But I don't know how to know that. I don't fucking know and that's killing me. Everything is so exhausting. I don't know why I am the way I am, and I can't do anything about it. What am I supposed to do? I need help but there's no one that helping. People are being like these things, these mental things are your problems and you should be the one that knows it. You should be the one that understand you and you are the one that like the only one who can fix it, but I don't know how to fix it. How am I supposed to just do it by myself? how am I supposed to know? There are people going to university to study about it so why do I have to be the one that fix my own problem when they are the one who supposed to help people. that is not even my major. I'm so tired. I just want to disappear. I want to die. I want to disappear, but I cannot.

If you are here, you have a mental illness

 

[Endisclose]

I think you need to see a counselling psychologist first who should help you with your diagnosis. The psychiatrist is someone who would dispense medication if required and the psychotherapist is someone who would help with things like cognitive behavioural therapy and the like..

The diagnosis is made based on the symptoms you report which is basically behaviour, behavioural patterns that are deemed to sufficiently deviate from the neurotypical standard. The main trigger for the "egregious behaviour" is almost always stress.

Each mental illness/condition has its own associated set of behaviour/markers through which it is identified. There are only 9 or so major disorders and information about each of them can easily be found online. I'd suggest you look them up to see if anything sounds familiar. I think this would help give you some possible clarity and also be of help later in the diagnosis.

I used to feel similarly helpless when I was young, hoping some great doctor would come along and painstakingly piece together what's wrong with me, but the I grew up to find out that the world really doesn't care. One's gotta help oneself a little around here and unfortunately by the time I pieced together the whole thing, it was already too late.

Oh and the docs get it wrong quite often too. And frequently they diagnose one thing first and then keep updating it as more symptoms/behaviour comes to light. They have to piece this together too. Nothing happens instantly. So it might take some time to get the correct diagnosis.

Once the diagnosis is made, they'll want to prescribe medication. Now, I don't believe in that stuff. There are a lot of medications that can screw up one's mind and body in the name of curing someone that it's positively sickening - antipsychotics and benzos are a case in point.

Cognitive behavioural therapy and other types of behavioural therapies can help I believe. But the answer would be to keep stress at bay, find a profession that one can do by oneself - independently, with flexible timings. A good support system will certainly help.