So, since I'm new and not really used to all of this yet, I hope I posted this in the right section. Sorry if I didn't.
Anyway... my problem is that I feel like I need to get a diagnosis to get better. Like... I need to be told I'm bipolar or whatever to be able to fight it.
The thing is, I have about a million issues that could be signs of the same mental illness or a million and I just... feel like if I have one thing (or two or three) to call it, it'd help me get better.
Part of me thinks that's really stupid and I need to be able to work this out alone without any "labels"....
Anyone got any advice for me?
There is no way you would go back now, oh no, those days are past
Life is waiting for the one who loves to live, and it is not a secret…
The first thing to do would be to identify what you're most struggling with, and see what you can realistically do to overcome this yourself.
If you come up with issues that're really deep, or potentially could make you unsafe, or severely impact on your life and relationships, I'd get an appointment with a doctor, and/or a counsellor, and go from there.
The thing to remember that, even with a diagnosis, it's not fully conclusive. Nor does it always include all your symptoms. For example my primary medical diagnosis is depression, but I, my therapist, and, yes, even my GP, all know it's rather more complex than that.
So I tend, in a half joking way, sometimes say that my diagnosis is
My Life, Not Otherwise Specified!
The key thing is to look clearly at what you're really dealing with, what troubles you most, and go from there.
Another thing that might be helpful for you to explore is what might be behind this quest, as you touch on yourself - do you ache for recognition and validation? have you been unheard and misunderstood up until now?
I know how you feel about needing a diagnosis, but you're an individual and whilst you may be diagnosed one particular illness, the best way of getting better is to address the underlying issues causing your problems and these are different for everyone.
Also sometimes when you get one, that diagnosis can easily become your identity without you realising, so instead of fixing the underlying issues you concentrate on how to stop your symptoms. You become "a sufferer of (insert illness here)" and you try to get rid of the illness not the issues causing it, which won't work in the long run because the problems that started it will still be there, preventing recovery or causing relapses.
If you really feel you need a diagnosis you need to go to your GP. You can do various internet tests if you don't want to do that but they can only give you a vague idea and you shouldn't base your life on them.
You really made me think about the whole issue and not in my usual "I need to know what's wrong and how I can fix it" way, but... more carefully. I guess you're both right that I should talk to a professional (sorry, can't spell...) but sadly, that's not an option I hasve right now.
I've been in a ward four times and had three therapists outside the hospitals, but they never really bothered with a diagnosis other then major depression, which has gotten a lot better since then, so... I don't really know if I can/want to trust those people again...
@Emmie: I did some internet tests before and... well, acording to those I could have pretty much every mental illness exept for schizoprenia. But thank you for the sugestion :)
There is no way you would go back now, oh no, those days are past
Life is waiting for the one who loves to live, and it is not a secret…
*hugs* Yeah, I got that, I apparently suffer from literally everything aswell but they work for some people. Good for you for getting help for your depression though, that must've been really hard.
Could you maybe try a different type of therapy? If not you could try talking your feelings over with a close friend or relative, sometimes having someone to talk to in "the real world" can help, even if all they can do is show you they care.
*hugs back* Well, the depression isn't fully gone, but the rest I can take care of on my own, because I know where that came from...
Maybe I'll try talking to friends and relatives, it's just going to be hard because I have trust issues like hell (I think I have issues about everything, but that might just be me being an a** to myself again...) but maybe that's really what I need. Thanks for sugessting that, now that you said it, I'm surprised I hadn't figured something so "simple" out myself.
There is no way you would go back now, oh no, those days are past
Life is waiting for the one who loves to live, and it is not a secret…
I completely understand too! but I also think that if I get a diagnosis I will be too scared to do anything about it. I have OCD and thats what my diagnosis is. but I don't take any medication for it. I want it to be my emotions and my decisions, and meds would make me feel as though it wasn't me in control anymore.
Anyway, I waffled, I know what you mean and can understand you to an extent
xx
Internet tests are rubbish. Don't do them. None of them work, there are very very very few illnesses or disorders that have 'tests' that can actually be done online to help diagnose.
Labels really do not help that much, as long as you know its a mental health issue you're dealing with it is so much better to just deal with symptoms until whoever is treating you is one hundred percent sure what they are dealing with. I pushed for a diagnosis and got the wrong one which was sooooo much worse.
