[Samanthagreene]

I was talking to a friend and he expressed a very different opinion than me. He suggested all mental health labels were destructive and instead, people should just be seen as being depressed at a certain moment, not diagnostically depressed.
To some point, I agree with him that diagnoses should be kept to the people who really need them. But I also think I felt so much better about myself after someone with a college degree said I had depression and I wasn't just broken and sad all the time.
Thoughts?
-Sam

[A Red Panda]

My thoughts are this:

If it's something that I am going to be dealing with on a recurrent basis, then it is worthy of a diagnosis. There are good times, and there are bad times. It doesn't disappear, I'm just not symptomatic all the time and hence I spend a chunk of time baseline. I have depressive episodes and I have hypomanic episodes. Those are their names, and together they form bipolar disorder.

I don't think that the diagnosis is destructive. The point of having a diagnosis is to be able to explain the general symptoms of what is going on. What is destructive is people who either A) think that it's all faked and that you're not actually ill or B) people who think that you can not function in life.

If people would get past all the stigma, then there would be no destruction caused by saying "I have bipolar disorder."

So really... the destructive part is people's ignorance. Which they will never overcome if the diagnostic labels are not used.

Unfortunately not all mood or mental states are depression only so the statement isnt valid. Labels have a purpose in that they drive (hopefully) correct treatment for the condition that is present. Take a look around at the other forums and you will see that more formally. I understand however the viewpoint about the labels being damaging in that there is such severe stigma against people with mental illnesses.

[IndieVisible]

It would be like you go see your general practitioner doctor because you really very ill, and your doc checked you out and then said yup your ill, take this stuff to feel better.

Now some people might be ok with just that, but me, I have to know everything about my illness and my medication. I understand because we are talking about MI there is that stigma here in the USA. So I would advise people who don't want to know e very thing to tell their doc they don't want to know any thing. Wouldn't that work?

[happywoman]

I would really like to see the use of (.....) in remission more often by the medical professions.

[venusss]

I don't think it's just stigma that is problem about diagnosis.

I seen far too many people cling to the idea that their brain is broken and they will never life full life (with "but it's not my fault!" as a tagline).

What surprised me, a lof of people who went through traumas and abuse kinda refuse to acknowledge this could affect them, because their bipolar/depression is "medical illness just like diabetus" and it's about chemical imbalances and chemical imbalances only. It makes me feel these people are just seeing themselves worthless and broken in other way... but maybe to such cathegory, labels and medical lingo tied to it, can hold back recovery if other aspects are no acknowledged.

Originally Posted by VenusHalley

I don't think it's just stigma that is problem about diagnosis.

I seen far too many people cling to the idea that their brain is broken and they will never life full life (with "but it's not my fault!" as a tagline).

What surprised me, a lof of people who went through traumas and abuse kinda refuse to acknowledge this could affect them, because their bipolar/depression is "medical illness just like diabetus" and it's about chemical imbalances and chemical imbalances only. It makes me feel these people are just seeing themselves worthless and broken in other way... but maybe to such cathegory, labels and medical lingo tied to it, can hold back recovery if other aspects are no acknowledged.

Absolutely agree! And it was me for a few years. The pdoc at the time kept telling me I was a victim and that this was ALL medical, there was nothing I could do except find the right meds as it was a completely chemical imbalance and I didnt have control over anything.

What an awful path that lead me down!

I am so glad my eyes are open to the truth now. There is a hell of a lot I can do to keep myself well, and by doing it I am now leading a very stable life. Still trying to figure out what counts as trauma and abuse as in my mind I had none (until being locked up in psyc wards), but my current pdocs see it very differently.

[IndieVisible]

In my opinion the greatest damage or effect is caused by the stigma (label). As soon as we tell other people about our label they will always look at us different from then on. So the next time we make a mistake or raise or voice or do anything which seems unappropriated they will judge it because of our label. It must be because he is bipolar, she acts that way because she has a personality disorder, etc.

Now addressing the problems we may cause on our own due to our diagnosis I agree many believe a much more harsh prognosis then is really there. They just except it and give up. I agree with this notion. I think this sort of behavior could be handled better with more optimistic therapists and pdocs. The pdocs tend to be less emotional.

Yes there are problems with labels, but we can not function as a society without labels. The real problem is the stigma behind the labels and the lack of effort to better ourselves in some cases.

[A Red Panda]

I forgot about taking on the victim-mentality that happens. I think, if there wasn't such stigma, that this would happen less often. I think that sometimes people hear the diagnosis/label and feel doomed... so they never try to NOT meet the expectations.

I feel sad for people who decide to simply live as the diagnosis without trying to manage it. If I personally knew someone who was doing that... and they used the diabetes comparison? I'd probably respond with "And diabetics work every day to minimize the impact that it is having on them, their lives, and the people around them. Are you doing that?".

[Happy Camper]

I find myself caring less and less for the label system. I think a brief description of the symptoms and problems experienced is a much more accurate and safe way to communicate with people. It's far far too easy to give someone the wrong impression because they have a different understanding or set of experiences with someone labeled with the same thing.

hopefully there will be a shift in thinking on this, or scientific advancements will allow conclusive statements to be made.

[PrairieCat]

There is actually no scientific proof at all, as yet, that there is a chemical imbalance! It is just a theory that the doctors came up with. But somehow, almost magically, the meds do work and they do help us sometimes. We gotta go with that. I'm one who wants to know everything. It's frustrating to not know it all yet.

[IndieVisible]

Originally Posted by PrairieCat

There is actually no scientific proof at all, as yet, that there is a chemical imbalance! It is just a theory that the doctors came up with. But somehow, almost magically, the meds do work and they do help us sometimes. We gotta go with that. I'm one who wants to know everything. It's frustrating to not know it all yet.

It's a pretty safe bet it's a chemical imbalance. But the rest is pretty much guess work. A lot of times they have no idea why this does that but they see the evidence that it works that way. And really when you think about it, everything is a chemical reaction. What we see, hear, taste, smell, feel, think, all chemical reactions. So if some one were to mess with that with another chemical, say LSD, things change dramatically. Which is one reason doctors first have to rule out drugs. MI can some times be attributed to a chemical imbalance. They just don't know why or how. Still a lot to learn about the brain.

[Happy Camper]

Chemical imbalance or not, we can't forget it's the firing of neurons that give's us consciousness.

Maybe like a poorly timed engine the sequence is out of balance. Maybe like an engine with scorched cylinders, harmful pathways have formed. Maybe our brains can't consistently rid themselves of certain toxins which inhibit other processes that control normal neuronal firing?

[Lillyleaf]

With any mental illness something chemically is going on. :P We can argue this all day.

Dx's are ment to help doctors understand and for you to understand. They are meant to put a name on things. Like if you had brown hair and your friend kept buying you blond bobby pins. You had no words to explain that you had brown hair :P so she kept buying you the wrong color of bobby pins. You feel very alone because you have brown hair but can't explain it to anyone... turns out there are more brown hair people then blond but you couldn't tell because there weren't any words!

What you think they mean changes with definition of them. I like labels... because it puts words to things. Maybe wrong words, or mean words but at lest it's a word. It's what you make of it that counts.

[henrydavidtherobot]

I have mixed feelings. I feel that sometimes my labels dictate that I have to be medicated or live a certain way or allow me to make excuses for myself. On the other hand, I've been way better off knowing my diagnosis and researching it to help myself.

I do think that depression and ADHD are over diagnosed and that allows for people to get stuck in ruts and feel hopeless instead if developing better coping mechanisms.