Quote:
Originally Posted by yagr
Ironically, I've told him previously that I didn't care what label got placed on me, but I rather thought it would be reasonable, you know? 
It feels kind of like working in a 'right to work' state. They can fire you for any reason or even no reason, but they can't fire you for an illegal reason. I'm fairly convinced that most of the criteria he is using to place this dx on me is centered on my religion/cultural beliefs and a particular skill set I have.
The religious/cultural is simply that I am a Native American Buddhist with a fair amount of crossover between the two. My spirituality is vital to me, and so it's come up some in sessions. I can see where talking to one's spirit animal might seem suspicious to someone with a very narrow set of life experiences. I'm living in a rural, white, conservative, evangelical community that is not very open-minded to outside influences.
From that thread I posted back in November and haven't gotten a response to yet:
Magical thinking: This is a key issue for my psychiatrist and therapist upon which this diagnosis is based (I believe). I think they believe that I think I have special powers of discernment. Here's the thing though (and they know this) I've written a book on body language that got me an invite to speak to a group from the FBI. I've given hundreds of paid lectures on the subject. My skills are world class. Of course I see things that others don't - but not because of some magical ability but a learned skill set that anyone can learn with the proper training.
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Oh, this makes so much sense. Thank you for explaining. It's really tricky if the reason you're in therapy is for the disability claim, and you've been assigned this psychiatrist and therapist to work with (military?). I would definitely ask if your spiritual beliefs are being factored into the dx and if so, what might your dx look like if cultural factors were removed?
Example from a different angle: My therapist said I'd been short changed by being diagnosed when trauma symptoms were active--once those calmed down, a whole different picture emerged. You are similarly being affected by a diagnosis that's looking at the wrong thing.
I wish you could see someone more open minded. I've shared spiritual beliefs with my therapist that she said others would have diagnosed as psychotic, but she understood the origin. She's protective in a way, guiding me on what words to use if I do have to interact with other mh professionals so that they don't go down the wrong path.
Misdiagnosis is a real thing. I guess you have to decide if you can live with it as a means to another end and still retain your sense of true self.