help with the meaning of my diagnosis

finally, after 10 years with my current dr, i learned that my diagnosis is "unspecified episodic mood disorder." when i look that up, i get a definition that says "a mood disorder that doesnt fall into the definition of any other mood disorder." can anyone give me a better description than that? i have depression, social anxiety, a little general anxiety, mood swings, urges to self-injure, suicidal ideation and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder prior to seeing my current dr.

sounds like he doesnt like labeling, so he is giving you a rather nonspecific diagnosis.

i think a lot of drs are like that...has anyone been given a similar diagnosis?

does it really matter the name?

I think it is more how you deal with it.

a lot of doctors also do that for insurance purposes. my doctor told met that I'm bipolarNOS because I don't quite fit in with the diagnosis of BP1 or BP2, but I have a mood disorder. She said that if I am NOS that it is easier to get insurance to pay for treatments. Once labeled under BPI or BPII, they may be stricter on what is available to you.

This is just from my experience, though. The best way to find out is if you ask the doctor.

I think you are right about the insurance issue. Better to leave the diagnosis somewhat vague for them so they don't get restrictive.

I can see that description your doctor used as being another way to say Borderline PD and many insurances do not provide coverage for personality disorders, so it would make sense to use a diagnosis like unspecified episodic mood disorder.

I can also see how the diagnosis feels vague to you, so I hope you'll talk to your doctor about it, so you can feel better.