Quote:
Originally Posted by cashart10
I actually do quite the opposite. When I learn that someone IRL has been diagnosed, I tend to be skeptical. If they don't have overt, classical symptoms I have difficultly believing their diagnosis and play psychiatrist in my head thinking their actual therapist must be an idiot or over diagnosing patients.
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I'd say that would generally be the right attitude. Things get complicated, however, because BP is most probably, underdiagnosed. That doesn't mean that all with the BP diagnosis are correctly diagnosed.
Reliability of diagnoses is not as good as those for (most) diseases. Compared to other mental disorders it might still be relatively good. Then again, symptoms can easily be induced by meds.
It would be safest to assume BP or SZ (or SZA) before assuming unipolar depression or ASD (maybe when psychotherapy alone fails, maybe after a short exposure to BP/SZ meds as diagnostic tool), respectively, I'd say.
ASD is most probably overdiagnosed.
All such diagnoses shouldn't be necessary, though: society should accommodate and thereby (allow us to) use our strengths (more) effectively. But maybe not. Maybe we are at our best, taking risks, struggling. I hope not. I don't mind the severity, but I do mind the very slow progress.
Maybe we can build a part of society that is like that, though.