Does your diagnosis affect how people interact with you?

I'm interested to know if people feel they have been treated differently because of their diagnosis and who treats them differently out of.
Family
Friends
Colleagues
Bosses
Mental health workers
Police
Hospital/ED staff

What were your different experiences and did the diagnosis improve people's ability to understand your struggles or stigmatise you?

I'm interested because I currently have a diagnosis of depression and anxiety but I have come into contact with police and hospital staff a number of times due to self harm and suicide attempts and my key worker is looking into getting me assessed for a personality disorder. I'm not sure if this would make things better or worse for me.

Animal87, I share my diagnosis with very few people. None of my co-workers know because I am afraid it would cause problems at my work.

Some of my friends know. It's not had any impact on those relationships. Well, I have one friend who kind of disses the fact I take meds, but she is opposed to meds for anything.

I have noticed when I see a new doc for a medical problem their demeanor changes when they see I'm on antidepressants. Some have become dismissive of my symptoms, chalking them up to depression. Others take it as one more diagnosis on the laundry list of medical problems I have.

You don't have to tell anyone what your diagnosis is or that you have any diagnosis at all. Diagnosis is a tool for therapists to be able to categorize or summarize the type of problems that you are having in a short-hand way. Because we know that there are similarities of groups of symptoms and often causes that fit together, we have a better idea of what types of treatment might be helpful to you based on what has helped other people with similar problems. You can also find information on your diagnosis that might help you to understand it better, or find other people that you can related to, etc. You might share your diagnosis if you feel that it would help someone else to understand what you are dealing with so that they can understand or know how to help you. If they are a person who will care about understanding you or helping you.

It is important to remember that you are you. Whatever diagnosis you have is just some information about some of the challenges in your life. You are still you. The people you interact with need to know that you are you, not a diagnosis. Sometimes being open about having mental illness can help to fight stigma because it helps people to realize that mental illness is something that affects real people that they interact with all the time, not just some unknown crazy people someplace else that they don't know and don't care about. If you choose to share your diagnosis, it is important that you make it clear that even though you have some struggles, you are still the same person that they knew before knowing your diagnosis.

I share that I have an autistic spectrum disorder if I want to explain why I am so literal and don't catch on to things the same way that others do, or I want them to understand my sensitivity or other problems that I have that are characteristic of autism. I guess that if I share that information, I am asking people to be more understanding or to interact with me in a way that is easier for me to understand and make sense of.

There are people who do change how they interact with me when they know my diagnoses. Most people seem to accept it and either not change how they treat me or be understanding. But there are exceptions. A few may be uncomfortable with the idea of mental illness, and not know what to say or do. For example, I also have depression and have been in a depressive episode lately. I have explained that, and what I wanted was a friend to listen and understand and be a friend, but instead she tells me to to to a doctor and get medication and won't listen to me as it isn't her job to be a therapist (I am a therapist and she is not, but I still need friends). In her way of thinking, because I am mentally ill, my real social needs don't count as it must all be the mental illness. Having a diagnosis doesn't change that we still have problems and needs like anybody else, and still need friends and social support, maybe even more. But that is just some people who don't get that.

Don't let your concerns about what people will think stop you from getting treatment or assessment (the purpose of assessment is to identify how treatment can help you). Just know that what you do with the information that you get is your choice. Getting a diagnosis is just finding out about your condition. It doesn't change anything. I was autistic for my whole life, even though I was not diagnosed until I was 42 years old. Just like a person who has diabetes is diabetic whether or not a doctor has identified the condition (diagnosed it). You are still the same person you were before. Once you get a diagnosis, you know more about what to do to be healthier. That is what it is about.

I don't mind having a diagnosis and feel it is very helpful for understanding. For my own uses and for interactions with others who have a diagnosis. However, I haven't recently been sharing my diagnosis with people much. I used to because I feel open about it and like it would help people understand me, but I have found that people don't understand that much, depending on their closeness and open-mindedness.

There is still so much stigmatism. I share information about myself with those I feel close to and who have some understanding and just plain unconditional love. I have shared a little at work. Mostly to show a good example of how someone that has struggles with mental health problems is taking care of herself and how much happier I am with myself and the world around me. We work with individuals that struggle with their issues - I am able to emapathize - a lot.

I do not think there is a right or wrong answer - experience will show you what works in your life.

For the most part no, but making morbid or life threatening jokes are less funny to them. :P

Also, I get unsolicited advice from everyone who thinks they know better, even though what they actually know is just the tip of the iceberg.

Hi guys

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I think it's very obvious to everyone that knows me that I'm not "normal" so I just wonder if giving my oddities a name might be a way of letting them know that there's a reason for my oddities. I'm going to go for the assessment anyway and see what comes of it. I wonder if the police will leave me alone if they understood that my random behaviour doesn't put me at risk or require a mental health assessment

Last night I went to get blood work they put me in a restraint chair and I wasn't even doing anything. My chart must say something in it for them to worry

I'm open with everyone about my dx. Even my kids teachers, drs, counselors, everybody. No, I'm not treated differently, or stereotyped because of it. I do however, feel better understood due to being open about it. My moodswings may at times cause a strain on my relationships, but they all know that it's part of living with bipolar and not due to anything they've done.

I wish I could say I agree with you, but a lot of what you wrote has not been my experience. No, I wasn't compelled to tell anyone, not at gunpoint or anything. But family members pushed and cajoled or snooped and spied and profoundly invaded my privacy in a quest to "find out what is wrong with him." And yes, I had to tell my employer something, I couldn't exactly disappear from work for three weeks, close my office door and hope they would just think I was working really hard and skipping lunches and breaks. So no, on a practical level, good luck keeping it secret, people are nosy and pushy and petty.

No, I am not me, not who I was. I can't be, life has changed forever. A lot of the time, I feel I do not recognize where I live, it is like I am on some alien planet. The old me at least felt like I was a citizen of the Republic, a member of society in good standing. My experience with the MH system tore me down, was profoundly degrading and dehumanizing, it broke me. I needed kind support, I got treated like a criminal. And made to feel like the scum of the earth by a system that ostensibly was helping me.

Some people may be understanding, but most people make snide comments, jokes, or carry on about how "they need to do something about those people" every time some tragedy with a mental health angle hits the front page. If they think you are one of "those people" you will be treated differently if they find out.

Think long and hard about it before you open Pandora's box. You can't stuff the horrors back inside if they come out. If you are lucky, you will have good experiences and a good outcome. But that is a big gamble. If I could go back, I would NEVER have made that first appointment, I would have toughed it out and gotten by. Instead, I am scarred and labeled and marked for live. Not to mention perhaps a tad bitter?

Since when was it my choice? I was ordered by a quack to do the day hospital program. It was unethical and cruel. It changed everything. It threatened my career, disrupted my family life and created serious problems in already shaky family relationships. I also lost legal rights and am subject to the same restrictions that felons and pedophiles have vis a vis my 2nd amendment rights on the state level. Yet I never committed a crime of any kind, nor was I given due process, it is just automatic because I have a "diagnosed mental illness".

Bitter much? You betcha.

For me...

Family...lots of questions but then calmed out and treated same.

Friends....just acceptance they already know who I am

Colleagues....same as friends....

Bosses....some leave to go to therapy but others go to the gym instead so not much different...it's whatever you need to do your best

Mental health workers....same as others so far...

Police....one one encounter....they had great empathy....

Hospital workers......like and animal to be caged.....but then I have psychosis right I must be dangerous...not....

In general it's positive for me because I don't feel like I'm hiding anything and it's not like I can hide it from the psych nurses although I wish I could, they were a lot nicer when they thought I had anxiety.

I don't say anything to anyone. Only close long time friend knows anything about me.