I was taken back last summer when my t referred to me a 'higher functioning' patient. It seemed so strange that she had evaluated me that way. The level of functioning was never a question in my mind: I've raised a family, progressed upwards in the job for 30 something years and am educated. I know I have worked thru a lot with her from my childhood and have a ways to go but it felt degrading to be placed on a scale of functioning levels...