Just wondering if anyone has ever doubted that the diagnosis the doctors have given is inaccurate/ incorrect?
These days I am increasingly doubtful of my diagnosis (schizophrenia). Partly because I have been given many other labels before, from BPD to psychotic depression to schizoaffective disorder. But more importantly, I think I am functioning a bit 'too well' for a diagnosis of severe mental illness. For example, I have successfully returned to university and I have not had any voices since June, even though I still have intrusive thoughts (thoughts that are not mine) and mild delusions of control (passivity phenomena).
So I suppose the residual symptoms are still there but just less florid. I am also unable to stop cutting completely, although the frequency has decreased to once every one or two months (unfortunately the severity has not decreased at all). Sometimes I still have thoughts in my head that are telling me to take a fatal OD, and I am still quite convinced that I will die of suicide, even if it will not be anytime soon....
Perhaps these are depressive symptoms- my psychiatrist said the depression was so severe that I was devoid of any feelings, happiness or sadness. But you can also put it down as the affective blunting in schizophrenia....
Sorry this seems to be a long post that makes no sense...I know the 'label' itself is not important and nobody here can diagnose me (and that includes myself) I just would like to know your opinions. Thanks!
The freshly qualified Psycho-Pharmacologist who is taking psychiatric medications herself.
I am currently a postgraduate student in Psychiatric Research.
Back when i was initially diagnosed with schizophrenia i thought to myself "Ha!!!! What a stupid doctor!!!! There's nothing wrong with me!!!" I refused to believe there was something fundamentally wrong with me. But as i was put in therapy i started accepting my diagnosis.
It is 6 years ago since i was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and i have come to accept my illness. I don't let it define me but i do recognise that i have this illness and that it impacts on most of my life situations.
It's a hard thing to accept. I certainly didn't accept it at first. However you haven't been given this diagnosis just to be labelled with something. I uge you to read about your new diagnosis, ask questions and get as much inrformation as you can. And eventually i am quite confident you'll make peace with it. I know it's hard. I didn't wanna believe it at first. But it isn't the end of the world. This is actually a beginning. Now you can start working with things. You're gonna be ok, hunni.
It's fairly common knowledge around here that my official medical diagnosis only gives half the picture. It's not that I doubt I have depression, I know I do, it's just, like, depression plus, and where does the plus go?! I still have it, it's still there, it doesn't miraculously disappear if it's not on my medical records!
I received the diagnosis of schizophrenia just over a year ago...I already knew a lot about the condition because of my university course, but when it is happening to me I found it very difficult to see through it. I am functioning well, but is it because of the medication?
The freshly qualified Psycho-Pharmacologist who is taking psychiatric medications herself.
I am currently a postgraduate student in Psychiatric Research.
You may very well be functioning due to the medication. Schizophrenia can have positive reactions to medication if the right medication is found. But I know what you mean about doubting doctors. I've been told bipolar, BPD, OCD, depression, schizotypal, schizoaffective, and the list goes on. It annoys me that doctors tend to diagnose off a very short period of time spent with you. Maybe you could go to another doctor for a second opinion and see if he/she comes up with schizophrenia as well. So sorry I'm not giving you many answers. But you are definitely not alone.
I have had different opinions from many psychiatrists in the past 4 years...3 said schizophrenia, 2 said schizoaffective, 1 said psychotic depression and 1 said BPD. I do agree that I have periods of both psychosis and depression, so the only diagnosis I truly disagree with is BPD. The textbooks say that schizophrenia <---> schizoaffective <---> psychotic depression lie on a continuum and the same individual can have all three diagnoses at different points in his/her life. I suppose this is the case with me....
Last edited by LaurieR : 24-11-2009 at 11:21 PM.
Reason: typo
The freshly qualified Psycho-Pharmacologist who is taking psychiatric medications herself.
I am currently a postgraduate student in Psychiatric Research.
It's very true you can be at different points. I know at one point I would totally agree I had the schizotypal, whereas at other points I would think the bipolar was correct. Remember that the actual name isn't important, and it's very likely your diagnosis may change as you change. It's good you realize you have psychosis, as that will help you better deal with your episodes.
Laurie, Im sure you know how complex psychatry is, and people experience different symptoms at different parts of their life which can lead to misdiagnosing.
Its important the symptoms are managed, not the "illness"! Although saying that, its possible to have schizophrenia and function relatively well with the right meds and support, or go in remission.
I sound like i know what im talking about, i dont
But yeah, at least you're functioning, and thats the main thing :) x
Oh yeah my diagnosis has gone from depression > bipolar > psychosis nos + personality disorder nos + depression again. No-one really knows whats wrong with me
I also thought Ami spoke a lot of sense re: diagnosis and symptoms. I don't think psychiatry's got it all worked out by a long shot, and everyone's complex in their own rights.
Some people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia may find it almost debilitating. Others may find this, and then find they can cope with it better (John Nash?) and others still may find they can function highly regardless of the diagnosis. I remember when I was told briefly about psychosis, and they said that some people have just one episode, others have episodes that repeat but there is better functioning in between, and others really suffer with it most/all of the time.
Well done to you for stabilising as well as you have. I imagine that the medication and your concordance with it have had a part to play so be proud of yourself for that. What is important is that you are aware of yourself, things that trigger you or things that might class as "early warning signs", so you can get help if things even start to slip a little beyond your control. And also importantly is to continue communicating re: your present struggles and getting support for that.
You may have heard (to paraphrase) "Recovery happens when you can live a meaningful life in the presence or absence of mental illness".
I have been misdiagnosed. I'm not actually aware of all my diagnoses as I've never asked or had them formally discussed with me. I was once assessed by a psychiatrist over three two-hour appointments and she told me I had "early-onset schizophrenia". Another specialist psychiatrist told me I had "delusional disorder". Further, I have been told I have BPD and C-PTSD, and other diagnoses too.
There was much debate between psychs when the schiz/delusional disorder/BPD diagnoses came about.
It has taken me about four years to fully determine that I don't have either of the first two. But despite that, psychiatrists and doctors who don't know me still make a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia after speaking with me. (I find that a bit rude).
Whether I have BPD... I don't know. I'm not a textbook case. We don't talk about my diagnosis in my care team, it's just referred to as "the illness". My psychologist said she thought BPD was a load of rubbish! Yet I have spent a year in a PD unit and they said I had a PD. So it depends on the professional too.
I had two psychotic episodes (im sorry if Im repeating myself ) and then I was told after Iwas grand ,just take the meds .then i was in a car accident ,the medical report said I was bipolar and I mean they stood uo ,me unaware and said this ,about a bloody back injury.I went mental .
Im not bi polar now it seems.
Nothing wrong with me .
So ,one day chatting to the social worker about getting a flat i saw her form ,she didnt hide it from me ,it said I was schziophrenic .
I said WTF
i rang my psych ,she said Oh but you showed signs of it 3 years ago ,but I was like am I or what?
She never gave me a straight answer to this day.
I swear it bugs me .
I recently questioned my daignosis of schizophrenia as I can't remember how I was before I was diagnosed, my pysch explained and although some of it I still put down to depression and derealisation but I dunno. He said it was a mi;d form that responded well to treatment and the reason for the diagnosis is just so they know how to treat me.
My diagnosis has always been some form or other of depression:
Depression & anxiety
Depression & psychosis
Clinical Depression
Some kind of creative depression (read like cyclothmia but linked to my ability/lack of to use my intellect & creativity... I thought that psych was a loon and he left the next day).
Severe Depression
Dysthymia & dissociative hallucinations (I have no clue what that means in relation to my symptoms).... < is my most recent one.
I agree I have some form or other of depression, no clue which is correct. I just know I don't cope. I get a different diagnosis everytime I see a psych though. I see another one on friday for a med review, so will probably hear sommat else.
I think it is bad when they can not be clear, or seem to make up their minds... as it makes us feel lost. I understand with complex symptoms it needs observation et al over longer periods but still...
I am rambling, sorry. Will stop.
*hugs for all*
Roiben x
If the Human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we wouldn't.
I have always doubted mine...it has taken near 10 years to finally have it acknowledged that no, I do NOT have BPD...but it stuck around for years and affected any treatment I tried to access.
Everything was put down to 'BPD' and shrugged off. I was told, by several docs/psychs to 'learn to live it, its never going to get any better than it is now. Learn to accept repeat admissions' !!!!
NO..i will NOT!
I was dx'ed it on the very first IP admission..and the psycjh even said, "I don't think you really have this, but the SH fits'
Like WTF???
That DX has been so hard to overcome...because they always explain away my feelings/thoughts/emotions/reaction as, OH, your BPD. That explains it.
And the more you fight them on it, the more convinced they are that you have it!!!
oops..sorry rant over. It just still pisses me off.
Anywyas, yes. It SHOULD be the symptoms..not the label.
I know...the cutting is the only symptom that 'fits' with the BPD criteria, even though I was doing it (or was it really me who was doing it?) for a completely different reason than those 'typically' found in 'real' BPD cases. I put these words in inverted commas because nobody knows what they really mean!!
The freshly qualified Psycho-Pharmacologist who is taking psychiatric medications herself.
I am currently a postgraduate student in Psychiatric Research.
(this thread has just reminded me of another BPD stigma; I was told that you are BPD so the 'things' you see/hear are simply 'pseudo hallucinations'. Because that is what BPD ppl have'.
And it was shrugged off.
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It led to a very near amuptation...finally they decided to pay attention.
I ended up falling and breaking my shoulder before I could line up the..'tool' to do it!
I was incredibly pissed at these ppl, for a very long time. But I remind myself they were wrong, I have a good doc now and he listens. Best of all ?? He hears.)
I don't agree with my diagnosis of BPD either. I know I am sensitive to rejection, but that's just because of how I have been treated in the past. I'm not the least bit impulsive.
Psychiatry isn't an exact science and it really annoyed me that they wanted me to keep trying different medications for depression and they couldn't even prove that I had a chemical imbalance.
Also it took them ages to believe me when I had an underactive thyroid, as the symptoms all seemed to be psychological.
I think that just because psychiatry is not an exact science lots of us tend to doubt our diagnosis, often because we don't just have one, but a couple on hand.
I was told I have anxiety disorder (or whatever the correct term is) because of dissociation episodes as well as severe depression and while I kind of see why you'd label me as the latter I believe that the first is complete nonsense and it doesn't make any sense to me at all.
But then again, I believe that the "label" you're given doesn't really matter. All it does is determine the way you'll be treated including the meds you're given. And if that doesn't help it's on to the next one until they find something that helps you. Through all that you remain an individual with a unique history - or at least that's my own -slightly romanticised- view.
