Why waste time labeling...

When all medications do is treat symptoms? It does t even matter really.

Its not a waste of time if the patient is interested in more than meds...


For example, if I was never given a BPD label, how on earth would I know how to deal with my symptoms when meds don't really help that particular label?


Sure it can dull the emotional responses, but my *****ed up thought processes, perceptions, feelings and triggers would all still be present.

Which doesn't really help then does it....


Instead that label gave me knowledge and knowledge is power... Awareness of this particular label lead me to try DBT, it lead me to research how others cope. It lead me here, where I don't feel alone or isolated.


These days I can challenge my thought processes, talk myself out of BPD feelings (mostly anyway) and have healthy coping mechanisms in place to help in times of distress...


I wouldn't have any of that without a label.


I'd be taking meds blindly wondering why I still feel so shytti all the time.


On the other hand, if meds targets all your symptoms, then you're probably right and there's no actual need for a label.

this i think sums it up nicely

Yes. When I was diagnosed, I finally knew what I'd been battling (and turning my life upside down over and over again) for 25 years. Wish I'd known a LOT sooner.

It's a fair point between say, BP I and BP II though. Then it really doesn't matter so much.

Innerzone makes a good point. Doctors also have to use "labels" so they can get paid for their services via insurance companies.

I don't know. I kind of like knowing what's going on with me.

But, as I have been told, the label doesn't matter, as long as the treatment for the label is helping relieve symptoms.

Sometimes docs aren't really sure of a precise diagnosis but they to enter one for insurance reimbursement.

I guess it's just a "thing" pdocs use so they know what class / category of meds to put us on. Might be useful too for our T's to identify symptoms of episodes we may be in and help us manage them.

I don't personally define myself by my labels.

But my symptoms sure as hell do affect me on a day to day basis!

Funny the power labels have, yet we are all human under the the same sun.

When I was diagnosed, after being misdiagnosed for so long, I was very happy.

I finally found something that made sense.

It helps me deal with my family because they can't deny a legitimate illness and they can do independent research to understand what I'm going through.

It helped me to know I had BPD because I was having persistent hallucinations that meds weren't helping. I was also having anger issues. This helped me research and try to avoid certain behaviors.

When I was treated primarily on symptoms and not a diagnosis, I was always so frustrated not knowing what was wrong with me. Now that I have the diagnosis, and accept it, I feel has helped so I know how to better manage it.

Question: Would you say that about physical health diseases/disorders that have no cure, only treatment for symptoms? There are MANY of them out there. We go on the assumption that mental disorders are the only incurable illnesses. Simply not so.

My husband has an incurable physical disorder that can only be treated for symptoms. Should we just accept treatment without a name for what they are treating. "Here. Take this for what ails you. No need to know what it is or what it's called though."

Diabetes is not curable. "Here. We're going to put his implantable device in you that will be really expensive and change your life. No need to know why though since it is only your symptoms we're treating. You can't be cured."

Might be a grass is greener sort of thing. My current label with my current pdoc is "episodic mood disorder nos" and I don't much care for that. I'm BP type 1 with psychotic features.

The difference between medical illnesses where the can only treat symptoms not cure it is that those people don't get judged for having the label. Even lupus which a few years ago was, all in their heads, is now more accepted than MDD, BP or schizophrenia. I guess that's my big objection to the MI labels, even other doctors react differently when they see that label.

I get the impression that that happens to corrupted empaths. Like if it's just their job to listen to symptoms and write scripts, then what the hell do they care if it's real or not? Just do their job and call it a day. But empaths tend to pour a lot of emotional energy into their work when it comes to treating patients in the medical field. I think maybe sometimes an empath gets emotionally fed-on by one too many frauds and suddenly they become guarded and cynical and suspicious of all mental illness cases. Or something.

In any case it's their issue. Sometimes we just have to roll it off our shoulders, and sometimes we have to reject a professional and get a new one (when possible).

I don't know that I agree completely. Having a dad and stepdad with severe diabetes, I get the "it's all the junk food" which is def not the case for my stepdad. He loves his veggies, and still had half his foot removed.

People with chronic pain disorders get judged for their need to take pain meds all the time -- often finding it hard to get treated at all because they are viewed as drug seekers. They may not be judged for their label, but they are judged for their treatment.

People with physical disabilities requiring them to use crutches or walkers or wheelchairs are met with impatience and rudeness when they need accommodations, walk slowly in the mall, need to use their devices to get around that sometimes can create traffic flow problems. They can't get hired because, illegal as it is to not hire based on disability, companies don't want to make the legally required accommodations for them, so they come up with some other excuse to hire someone else. They aren't judged for their label, but they are judged for their differences and needs.

There is lots of judgment that goes on, ours is one type, but we are not exclusive in being judged for our differences and challenges.

I guess we need labels to id common symptom traits.

right...

just a name to help keep some track of them... natural order of languages... identify and organize... helps understanding...

We might need labeling to identify common symptoms, but our life not restricted to just this label, we are much more capable beyond this label.

exactly...

i think that's the... main thing that sometimes bugs people about the idea... the idea of "labels"... when in reality, they are just words... like our names... our names are labels and yet we own them (most of the time)... but in the end, just words...

...a rose by any other name...is still a rose

I wonder if Bipolar Disorder, like autism, falls under a spectrum rather than discreet diagnoses. This would mean there would be infinite degrees of mental illness, rather than just two or three. I have experienced full-blown mania several times and could be classed as BP I, but I don't really believe I am. I don't believe I can be classed as BP II either, because of the mania I've experienced. I fall somewhere in between.