I can say that with the forums here, I am fairly comfortable with the depression group. I don't know about the others much, but I think they would be comforting as well if I just described my symptoms.

My frustration is with the rest of the world. For example, my daughter has now been given a working diagnosis of aspergers. Prior to this, she wasn't able to get assistance for her symptoms because most of her symptoms mirrored schizophrenia (aspergers and schizophrenia have often been mistaken in kids in the past). Depression and bi-polar wouldn't help her symptoms as much because that inflexibility in thinking and the paranoia she expressed aren't as prevalent.

So in some ways, in this world, a label matters. But I don't know what my daughter really has and in fact, i would say it's really NOS (not otherwise specified) because she's so unique and doesn't fit any DSM IV-TR definitions. I am the same way. I have anxiety, but it's not just about being scared of failure, but also fear of not knowing what to do with myself in a social situation.

So I'm ranting a bit about how blogs are set up and use these labels rather than the description of the symptoms. I'm trying to work on getting a message out to people about mental illness and I'm realizing that I used the labels too much and need to find better ways of expressing what's happening in my mind/behavior without just labeling it.

Why can't we all be compartmentalized though? It would make life easier, but then again less dynamic...