For me, the plus side has been targeting treatment (my diagnosis eliminates DBT, CBT, exposure...) It has been helpful for me to research it, and to give H and 2 friends some information about what I face. It has helped me to stop trying to decided if I have DID or not (I do per psych testing and two Ts since diagnosis).

On the other hand, I was also diagnosed with treatment resistant major depression. No ----, Sherlock!. That diagnosis was used to convince me to keep trying meds, and to eventually put me on an antipsychotic. I am off that now, because therapy helped and meds didn't. But at least at this point, I wish I had not taken all those AD. I was also diagnosed with mixed personality disorder; T3 refers to the dependent traits of that a lot-Sometimes I agree with her, sometimes not. And it was bad to read the personality diagnosis, knowing that those are hard to treat. In fact, the psychologist who did the testing concluded with the advice that I should just focus on reading and horses, since those bring me some pleasure and forget trying to forge relationships with people because I would never be successful with that. 6 years later, it is still difficult sometimes to proceed with therapy because of that opinion.

I suspect that pdoc would have convinced me to stay on/keep trying AD, mostly because that's what pdocs do with suicidal patients. So maybe that is not a downside. But I do have mixed feelings about being diagnosed.

For me, diagnosis required testing with a psychologist (Phd) who specialized in testing. It was an hours-long process and I did feel like he approached things with an open mind and asked good questions and didn't jump to conclusions. I appreciated that. My pdoc wasn't willing to diagnose me, although he definitely was thinking DID and as I said, depression was a no-brainer.

For me, the main benefit of a diagnosis is to target treatment. So if you are having difficulty getting the treatment you need, then I would ask for testing, regardless of if you want medical or therapeutic help. I would also factor in the unpleasantness of learning that you have a hard to treat condition. I do recommend going to a psychologist rather than a pdoc for diagnosis.