Quote:
Originally Posted by TunedOut
I totally agree with all you said in this posting. I am not sure that making a correct diagnosis (especially with how little time many psychiatrists spend talking to patients before making a diagnosis) is always that clear cut in every case. My first therapist said that she used the diagnoses of anxiety or depression for the purpose of filing insurance claims because they were less stigmatizing and are common but, many times she felt like she was not sure about everything going on with her patients. I appreciated that she did not feel like she knew all the answers and did not automatically "pigeon-hole" patients into certain categories early on in the therapy relationship.
|
Well it’s important to acknowledge that therapists cannot diagnose (beyond doing it for insurance purposes).
It’s true that it’s wrong to pigeon hole people and it’s much better to treat people holistically as the whole person. But when it comes to medication if people are prescribed meds especially highly addictive ones in the absence of clinical diagnosis or because they think they have something and doctor complies, it’s extremely dangerous route to take.
I agree it’s not all clear cut but it’s dangerous taking meds in absence of diagnosis. Like if my stomach hurts it might be because I eat crappy food so it’s important to actually diagnose what’s the issue here. Maybe I won’t even need meds if I stop eating crap. I’d expect to have some resemblance of diagnosis before piling on meds, most people with physical illness wouldn’t pile on meds because they have pain in the right side etc they’d want to know what is going on first.. Yet many people feel differently about mental illness or assumed or suspected mental illness.
Becoming dependent on meds is necessary for many but it’s not as clear cut for everyone who takes meds.