Does a diagnosis really help?

Hi PeppiPatty

I'm glad I made you smile 😊

I guess that's part of the equation - getting yourself out and into life, but also bringing life into your inner world from the outside too ... smiles are bridges in a way. It brings new meaning to "sharing a smile".

My son being alone is not necessarily a bad thing. 'Alone' doesn't necessarily mean 'lonely.

It can mean 'sanctuary',

and 'having space to ponder things',

and 'switching off the outer world for a while',

and 'engaging in solo activities that interest you'.

I believe all of the above is where he is at, probably a bit more than the others at the moment, but they have their ages and stages of maturity too.

Son No.2 did a wonderful thing today. He had an issue with uni that he had to step up and sort out. He had kept his head in the sand over it for a few weeks, imagining the worst, as they do. He took his older sister in with him for moral support, and got it all under control in a relatively short space of time. All that pondering away in his room paid off !! 😏

So proud of him. Lesson learned. Spring back in his step and happy piano music throughout the house right now. He is learning a new piece. Piano is a joy for him, and he's sharing the joy.

Communication isn't always in words 🌺

I found a diagnosis didnt really change anything except to help me understand my condition. A lot of MI changes over time so it probably isnt that constant. I have been diagnosed differently as my Mi progressed and I think a lot of psychs get it wrong anyway. I have said before that I was treated for Schizophrenia so long which made me miss some more appropriate treatment for schizoaffective disorder.

Having said that it hasnt made me feel any more certain about my diagnosis, just allowed me to put a lable on it for the time being. Schizoaffective and schizophrenia are quite different illnesses and have quite speific treatment so that has been a bonus.

Most of the time I have been in clinic I was treated as a schizophrenic which I think made for a longer stay. So in hindsight its really about getting he diagnosis correct rather than just giving your MI a name.

Wow, some powerful reading here...

Sorry I forgot who it was, but someone mentioned "I wonder what this question would be like if stigma/prejudice wasn't a concern".

I relate so hard to that!

Reading this thread, I have swung between yes and no more than I thought I would have. In my current position in life, I feel diagnosis and the 'label' that others have applied, has had so many disadvantages for me.

But do those disadvantages outweigh the positive that was me getting diagnosed with insert-super-long-constantly-changing-MI's-here when I had my first episode at 15yrs? In fact, if I look back upon those years with a scrutiny for how treatment changed according to all those ever sliding and shifting 'labels', then actually, they may have saved my life. I was admitted as an inpatient, and treated as symptoms presented.

For the longest time I have had this perception that a diagnosis was pointless and counterintuitive, but is diagnosis really a diagnosis of 'disorder', or is it more of a case of 'illness'? If you consider illness over disorder, then drs are just giving themselves diagnostic tools to treat ailments as they present. And thinking about it now, this is what happened for me in my youth. In fact, I don't think a single psych gave me a diagnosis (they couldn't, I was practicably mute and so much of diagnosis is dependant on hearing a patient verbally concur or relate to a diagnosis... which is a drawback of diagnostics that I hate but it isn't relevant to your question), but i'm sure that didn't stop them writing up MI's in my patient files. And they definitely used those MI diagnoses to treat me. And treated I was. I do see the work I did on myself in my twenties as more productive in managing myself, but I was kept alive, and was inadvertantly given many tools with which I could use to be more mindful. And to be less hard on myself, it was all real. You don't end up on psych wards or presented with an MI diagnosis if you're just being dramatic and selfish.

In fact, having the official diagnosis of 'schizoaffective disorder' given to me by a psychiatrist in my early twenties, carried much weight (in my favour) in court when I found myself arrested.

And I suppose, it gave me a bargaining tool to escape the awful adult inpatient ward I had admitted myself to. A diagnosis meant they could agree to allowing me to leave without their prescribed treatment, so long as I saw an apporpriate practitioner as an outpatient.

It's definitely less black and white then I thought before this thread. And, take away stigma and prejudice.... there would be no drawbacks. So on point, that.

Thank you everyone for contributing answers so thoughtfully to @DefiantPanda's question.

@Dannyka6

I absolutely agree with you, we would not want to give anti depressants to a person that suffers mostly with elevatedc moods (and there are such people!). That could escalate them into mania.

We need to find the right diagnosis to help people. It may not be a perfect diagnosis but an adequate one that will make it possible for professional to treat it. NAturally there are good and bad health professionals but that is another matter.

Hi @Sehnsucht

to give you an example, they have mental disorders in Indigenous cultures, I was reading, only that those with schizophrenia, or other serious mental disorder, are called witch doctors and trained to become Shamans. It is not a problem in their culture so that the label, in their own language, is an honour and a gift. 🙂 Go figure

@kenny66 Is this really you? Wow, good to see you. It's me.....former name justanother47yr but I turned 48 so got my name changed.

How are you?

How is your health?

Hi @Shaz51, good thanks. Nice to see you again 🙂

Hello @Sehnsucht, very interesting to read yours and other new responses here. Having said that, my understanding of schizoaffective disorder is quite limited, would you mind expanding upon what you wrote where you said you would rather be a statistician or logician of some kind but sequencing is a massive weakness? And how would you be pushed into peoplecentric things like nursing? By yourself or by the advice of your treating team or some other way?

It is sooo good to see you again @DefiantPanda

hope you had a good day

we have had a very very big week last week , so I hope this week is better