Does knowing what you have help you?
 

Yesterday I was at an appointment and she asked if knowing what she thinks I have (Borderline Persoality Disorder) would help me or not. Be it she asked me after she told me, in the context of "before we never told the patients because they'd focus on the diagnosis etc." but I said that yeah knowing helps. But then I got to thinking, does it really?
I mean yes, I like knowing that I'm not just making it up and it's a real disorder, but does that now mean that I can simply blame all the stupid things I do on the diagnosis? Even if I am diagnosed though, it doesn't mean that I no longer have choises in the matter. I can choose to do safe things, or I can choose to do unsafe things. That doesn't change with a diagnosis.
I have to go on tuesday to be "officially diagnosed" by a pcychiatrist because the lady I see is only a social worker and cannot diagnose.
I'm really not sure where I stand. I've gone undiagnosed for a physical health problem since 2006 and I hate not knowing what it is. I like knowing things, so maybe it'll be good to know.

So finally my question for all you lovely people...
Did getting a diagnosis (for any mental health problem) actually help you? Did it hurt you?
If you could, would you go back and decide not to know?
Has knowing your diagnosis changed anything in your life?

Thank you
Emily

I would've been angry if I wasn't told my dx. Knowing the diagnosis has helped in the way that I have researched it inside out and know signs to watch out for when things are going wrong. If I hadn't learnt about the episodes and symptoms involved then experiencing them would be scary as I wouldn't know what's going wrong.
It didn't hurt me to know, no. Even if I tried to carry on with things pretending I wasn't schizoaffective bipolar type wouldn't mean I wasn't so I'm glad I know.

Yes, and no.

It helped because it was finally given a name. There was actually something medically wrong, I had actual symptoms and they could be managed with therapy and medication.

And no, because I have BPD. It's a label that sticks. It's one that a lot of people aren't educated about and they assume it just means I'm manipulative and untreatable. It means there's something wrong with my personality.

My official medical diagnosis doesn't really cover all my symptoms.
Basically, I'm pretty complex, my past is pretty complex, and it feels better to have a primary diagnosis.
Even the psychiatrist told me that I have 'depression, anxiety, panic attacks and other problems due to things that happened to you in your past'. Which is pretty spot on, really.
A diagnosis isn't all of me, nor is it all of anyone.
I find it helpful to understand that I have a number of difficulties that I've always had, and am working on, of which depressed feelings is a major componant.
Notice the difference - 'depressed feelings' rather that 'Depressive Disorder'. It's far more descriptive of what I'm dealing with.
I'm currently working at de-pathologising myself. Which is an ongoing challenge for a number of reasons.
The only diagnostic label that I am comfortable with fully connecting with is Complex PTSD. However that ain't in the DSM/ICD-10 [yet?] and it is unlikely I'll ever get it diagnosed via NHS folks.

No, I already knew what my symptoms were and had good insight into my condition.
I may be slightly negative as I was initially misdiagnosed and had a lot of bad experiences due to that.
However I don't believe being told what I had, I already knew why things weren't great and I knew what feelings, experiences and thoughts I had that weren't normal.

However obviously it is useful for my psychiatrist to have a diagnosis on me as it has helped him to determine what medication and therapy would be useful for me.

It can be helpful so you have something to tell people in respect to what is wrong with you.....but....as control freak said....with the diagnosis of BPD. a lot of people don't really understand what it is, so they can discriminate and get a bit funny about it.

Six of one and half-a-dozen of the other i'm afraid

Hey,

I too had an undiagnosed medical condition for four years, i just got a diagnosis the other day actually. And yes that helps alot.

As for a mental health diagnosis, yes it helped initially to allow me to see something was wrong but now it doesnt really help me much at all.

It seems when you have symptoms which dont seem to fit into a nice diagnosis Dr.s dont know how to treat you.


PM me anytime

I'm angry when things are kept from me. I have every right to know my diagnosis. I also want to look at my medical records. I want to see what they write about me. I'm nosey, as you can see.

But no, I was diagnosed with ADHD, I already know I have anxiety, but now, out of the blue, I have difficulty in Emotional Regulation ??? WTF?! What else could I have 'difficulty' in or been diagnosed with?

You know? I have every right to know what is going on with me. It would help me a lot because then I'd know what it is, and know what to do about it. Not knowing makes me wonder even more. Which is bad because my mind can think deep a lot.

Sarey, you DO have a right to see your notes and know what is happening with you. You can apply to see your notes anytime (usually a letter to the CMHT stating you want to see your notes or have a copy made available to you works). However, it is within their rights to take out anything which they think will distress you, and that could include a provisional diagnosis.

Oh, I do intend to get a copy of my notes, both medical and from CAMHS. It apparently costs.

Well, if that's the case, I'll just straight out answer my psych. What is my diagnosis?
Because it's frustrating when they keep changing their minds.

It can take a while for the professionals to settle on what they think is exactly wrong. During which they will change their minds. It's better than them coming up quickly with an incorrect dx.

My notes were free from all of the NHS places.

But the private hospital wanted to charge me £50 so I didn't get them in the end.

I've been with CAMHS since I was 8, I'm now almost 16. They should know.

I'm actually so confused in what I'm thinking.
Like, if I am diagnosed with BPD, it really doesn't change anything. I'll have a name for it, but in the end all it is is choises. You either choose to do unsafe things or you don't. From what I've read all it will accomplish is making it harder to get into a hospital. All the symptoms, it's all things I either choose to do or not to do. If it were Schozophrenia, well then getting a diagnosis could help you so that you know you aren't crazy and that you aren't making it up and that it's real in a way (I'm sorry if this offends anyone!!). With this though, calling it BPD is almost like "allowing" it to happen. I don't think that makes sense. It's like saying that it is acceptable to do all these horrible things because I've been diagnosed. Except at the same time I am trying to do the complete opposite of all the symptoms to prove it doesn't define you as a person. I'm trying to not even talk to the people I have way to close a relationship where i depend on them to much.
I mean, I've been undiagnosed for a physical problem since 2006 and it sucks, but this is different.
Sorry if this makes zero sense!

Very good question - for me, yes and no.
For depression, I think it helps me because it's almost a validation... like I'm not just making it up or being over sensitive/lazy/stupid, but someone recognises that it's actually a problem that I struggle with. And it's also helpful because once the problem is identified, you can better attempt to find a solution (e.g. meds), rather than trying to fix an unknown, if that makes sense.
But then no, only really because of the stigma/public perception of it. And it winds me up, because I don't want to be labelled with something that I don't want to have.

Then with eating, it doesn't really help me knowing. Slightly in the same way, it's a kind of relief that someone has said 'Yes, we recognise that you do have an actual problem'.
But mostly no, because often I feel like I have to conform to the diagnosis, which probably sounds crazy. 'But I think that's just the way the 'ill' part of my head works - I'll end up thinking 'Well I can't possibly eat that, anorexics don't eat' etc. And when I'm in a really bad place, I'll just use it as an excuse to stay ill.
Sorry for completely rambling, my brain is still asleep.

I really want a diagnosis. Purely so I can know what is wrong and how I can deal with it. Because at the moment I have no idea what the heck is wrong with me and I have absoluetly no idea how to deal with it at all.

I know that may sound really stupid and silly. But yeah :/ I'd rather know whats going on because I'm really scared atm, because I don't know what's wrong.

I find that being told I have BPD is kinda making things worse for me. Because when I am in my major depressive episode I'm often dismissed as ''Oh she is just a BPD'' So am sent on way.
My worker often says things that are not right just because some people with this label have the symtom doesn't mean I do.

Also with anorexia, that gets overlooked by SW as she see's just the BPD.

Luckily my GP is an angel and deals with what the current problem is. Whic right now is major depression and anorexia.

Telling people you have BPD often, I find, gets doors closed in front of you.

I only have 2 maybe 3 traits of BPD and that makes it really hard for everything else.

But in saying all that I'd rather know the label so I can look into it and see if there is anything I can do myself to help without having to rely so much on the (useless) workers I have.

I think you're right to an extent Shae Lynn. It's easy to allow BPD to be an excuse to behave a certain way.

But sometimes it's very hard to know where the BPD ends and you begin, and what's making you behave a certain way, and why.

To be honest, I was gutted to be diagnosed. I hate that medically I have things wrong with me. Especially since I can't be cured. You don't 'recover' from what I have, you just have to learn to live with it and adapt. I wish they couldn't tell me what I have, so I could at least kid myself that it is just a phase..

But.. being that I can't change any of that, It was good being able to read up on what I have and identify with the symptoms etc, knowing that I am 'normal' within the limits of what I have. If that makes sense.

We've been diagnosed with everything under the sun, which is common with DID. At the start we wanted to smash their heads in because they didn't know, or wouldn't tell.
When we were told it was validating, and also allowed us to do some research and find coping strategies specific to the problems we were having. We think the DID diagnosis was a positive one. PTSD, that was a validation also, but it's fairly attached to DID.

Anxiety/panic disorder and depression didn't mean much, we've been slapped with those since we were 12, so...

Also depending on which part of us was out at therapy, we would display an array of symptoms, from psychosis, autism, hyperactive behaviours etc.

We think it helped, but doesn't do much now. :)

This is exactly how I feel on both parts :blush:

when i didn't know my diagnosis, i didn't like that. partly because it felt like they couldn't be bothered or didn't care, partly because i felt like a time-waster, that they wanted me to feel the way i did. that's something that hasn't gone away even after being diagnosed.
the first diagnosis i got told was EDNOS and i didn't like that either, i felt there should be a difference between a description of symptoms and a 'real' diagnosis. and at first it made things worse because i wanted to prove myself in a way: sort of 'if you say i just want to lose weight then i'll do it bloody well.'
the second diagnosis, depression, didn't help. i thought it would, because then i could learn how to cope with it. but i read about it and just found all these coping skills for problems i didn't have.
the most recent diagnosis was ?psychotic depression. i haven't really acknowledged it yet because to consider that the Voice and everythign else mightn't be real makes the Voice very angry. but i like that it's a 'question mark' diagnosis, because that sort of gives me a choice as to whether to agree. and it was nice in a way to look it up afterwards and to read the symptoms and actually think 'that sounds a bit like me'. on the other hand 'psychotic' isn't just a label that what-others-would-call-the-unwell-part-of-me resists, it's one of those words that no one wants attached to them.
so like everyone else has said, there's pros and cons. overall i think i prefer having a diagnosis.

The first time I was assessed by my psychiatrist I was told I had mild depression, which she was unsure of because she thought I might be just "down" ¬_¬ . I was really uncofortable with that, because she'd only seen me for an hour or so, and had no idea what was going on in my head because I'd denied any suicidal plans which I did actually have and some other things. Over time I became honest with her and after an incident I was admitted to hospital and my diagnosis became moderate depression which I was alright with. Then a couple of months after I was diagnosed with PTSD, which I didn't know was CPTSD until about 6 months ago.

I feel okay with having a diagnosis, because it means I'm not having these thoughts/feelings/flashbacks/whatever for no reason. I think people are a little more patient with me because I have a diagnosis, because I think if I didnt have one people would think I was just attention seeking and feeling like that for no reason (this is only what I think of myself). I probably make no sense but I get it lol.

I wish i knew what's wrong with me :(

It's helped me in the sense that they now know what medication to give me, for example; taking anti-depressants alone will make me worse. However, it doesn't change the feelings. In some ways, I feel more hopeless because it's a lifetime label.

At first it made me glad that it was only LLI and not schizophrenia like I thought it was (I was getting to sleep after 2AM every day, was constantly paranoid and suspicious of people not to mention living in a really loud street is like hell for me [although most of you have it alot worse, I shouldn't be complaining here]). I suppose knowing what I have means I know that the symptoms are going to start getting worse.

LLI?...

Sorry Low Latent Inhibition, I suppose the easiest explaination is you can't ignore things, but that makes it sound really pathetic :-p. Every single stimulus that is percepted by your senses can't be ignored, your brain has to experience it. If you decide to look it up on the internet look for the teenagers who think they have it, its good for a laugh (one guy says "Yeah, I reckon I have it because when I'm talking to people I can tell when they're lying").

For me knowing helped. It confirmed to me that I'm not a freak and there is something that can be done to help and that I'm not alone.