False diagnosis on my record

I went to a family doctor a few weeks ago, and she ordered some lab work. I had a print-out that I gave to the people at the lab, so they would know what tests I needed.

Anyway, on page 2 of this print-out there was my allergy to penicillin, and then some diagnoses. Among them was "delusional disorder". Here is the Wikipedia link ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional_disorder ).

Is there any way to have "delusional disorder" removed from my record? First of all, it was a bad diagnosis. I had "brief psychotic disorder" IMO. That is on my record too, and I accept that diagnosis. "Delusional disorder" is much more serious. I don't want people who draw my blood to think I am delusional.

Probably there is no easy way to fix the record, but I wanted to ask (and gripe a little too I guess LOL)

here in america we switched over to a new standard for what is and isnt a mental disorder in 2013. short version of what is happening is a persons existing diagnosis's are being transferred over to the new system. Delusional disorder is a new diagnostic label for when someone has had a history of delusional thoughts, delusional beliefs that have lasted more than a month.

a delusion is thinking or believing something that is not true.

example if at some point in my life i thought and believed my co worker was possessed or had a mental disorder she does not have thats called a delusional belief, delusional thought with out having a hallucination.

another example would be if I thought I had a mental disorder that does not actually exist without having a hallucination with it is called having delusional disorder symptoms... for example lets use one of your posts where you said you thought you may have hysteric psychosis. there is no such existing diagnosis label for this. we did have a diagnosis like 40-50 years ago (I think it was the DSM3 when we are now on DSM5) called hysteria not hysteric psychosis.

my point your treatment providers may be matching what you are telling them you think you have to the existing diagnostics and when they encounter a diagnosis you think you have to which we do not have that diagnostic label they mark that as being the new diagnostic label Delusional Disorder.

that said the only way to get past diagnostics off a present file is by going through a psychiatric evaluation for diagnostic purposes. this is an extremely long process (both mental and physical assessments/tests) to discover what your present mental and physical health problems are. once that is done your file will show paperwork that shows what your present diagnostics labels are.

my suggestion talk with your treatment providers, ultimately only they can say how and why they have you placed as being delusional disordered and if you still do not agree with them you can ask them for the formal testing process of under going a complete psychiatric evaluation.

well you can talk to the dr and ask why she put that diagnosis on there and if she could remove it. i doubt that it will be taken off past documents but it wont be put on future documents. i have been falsely diagnosed severaly times by pdocs who have sat with me for 15 minutes because of my anxiety. it really upset me to have a diagnosis that was not me in my charts. i went over it with my t who saw me every week and he agreed that diagnosis was not accurate. while i met a few criteria it was necessary to meet five and the criteria i met was common to the diagnoses i did have. when i got with another pdoc i brought up to her when she was going over my dxs after seeing me a couple times and she agreed i did not fit and when she put in my dx into the system she did not list it. so from that day forward it was not something attached to me because future docs did not read that far back in my records. you really have to advocat for yourself when it comes to mental health.

O.k. maybe I still have delusional disorder in a very, very mild form. Sometimes I have absurd ideas, that nag at me and cause stress. But I know these ideas are absurd. Most people with delusional disorder, don't understand that their thoughts are absurd. Here are links to a couple of recent threads where I described these struggles.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/schiz...i-dismiss.html
http://forums.psychcentral.com/schiz...rstitious.html

I suppose my continual questions to people on this forum might get annoying ("have you ever heard of this type of symptoms?", ...). The therapist I currently see, has asked me why I keep researching things on the internet and looking for natural remedies instead of listening to her and going for prescription drugs. (BTW, this therapist thinks that I do NOT currently have a problem with psychosis or delusional disorder. Originally she wanted me to take anti-psychotics, but now she agrees that I don't need them. She wants me to take antidepressants though. We are doing CBT, and that is helpful.)

Sorry, I got off on a tangent. The reason I keep asking people if they have experienced symptoms similar to mine, is because my illness seems a lot different. Sometimes I wonder if some of my hallucinations were real instead of psychological. I've seen seemingly paranormal things like people that nobody else can see. Most hallucinations that others describe are primitive like a voice saying something mean. My hallucinations (if they were hallucinations) were like sitting and interacting for an hour in church with people that may not have been visible to anybody else. Also my hallucinations were spaced months and years apart, and the hallucinations often seemed totally real except for being very strange. So I keep wondering if maybe they were NOT hallucinations. That is why I keep bothering people with these questions.

its no bother at all. the reason I place contact ones own treatment provider isnt because a person is a bother, its because sometimes people (including me here) forget to do this when something major happens. plus the disclaimer at the bottom of every page . but its not a bother for me when someone asks the questions about their mental disorder.

Thanks, those are some good ideas. My record currently says something like: "delusional disorder 2012 - present". I might be able to ask my therapist to write something on paper stating that she doesn't think I have delusional disorder presently. Then I could take that paper to the medical doctor to see if she would be willing to update my record, so it doesn't say "present". I have improved a lot, and I think the record should show that. I don't want doctors to think I am delusional when I describe my medical problems to them. Doctors already are inclined to dismiss everything as psychosomatic, and having "delusional disorder" on my record might make that even worse.

I guess part of it is also embarrassment. "Delusional disorder" sounds more weird than "depression". I don't mind "depression" on my record, but I don't like "delusional disorder" - especially when my problems are so much smaller than what most people with psychosis face.

LOL - the worst thing about being labeled with "delusional disorder" is that nobody believes me when I say I don't have it. People with "delusional disorder" usually don't gain insight, and they are highly functional in all areas except for the delusion. So it is hard to fix that diagnosis.

suggestion maybe not say the words I dont have delusional disorder. maybe say instead something like I'm curious i saw on my blood work paper my files have me as being delusional disorder. can you tell me why thats on the files?

this will open the door to not throwing it whether they and you ...believe...you have it, but rather on the facts of what made them place that label in the files.

they will instead answer according to what symptoms or what you told them that lead them to diagnose you as that.

this will also give you a chance to clarify what you meant when you told them about those symptoms and problems in the first place that led them to labeling you this.

who knows maybe by doing it this way they will include a statement in your files that they no longer believe you have delusional disorder.

I understand having the labels and having to work with doctors. I have too much anxiety to go to the doctors and fortunately have been very healthy. But I got sick a few months ago and never got better. I was weak exhausted dizzy and I hurt really bad. My back ended up going out on me really bad. I knew something was really wrong with me so I went to the doctor. I hadn't seen him for two years because I needed that referral to my psychiatrist and he was baffled with what may be wrong with me. The only thing that showed up in the lab was a vitamin D deficiency. And so the first thing that comes out of his mouth is to ask me what my psychiatrist and psychologist think about what I have been going through. I really wanted to hit him LOL seriously I haven't seen the guy in two years and he thinks I'm making up being sick because I mentally ill? Wouldnt have been in his office long before that? I immediately went to another Doctor Who ran more labs and discovered I had hyper reactive hypoglycemia.

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That sounds like a good idea. I stopped going to the therapist that diagnosed me with delusional disorder shortly after she made that diagnosis, but I can ask the new therapist what she thinks about the diagnosis. I suppose it isn't a big deal, but I don't think it is accurate today. Even that original therapist said she thought it was very mild and she wasn't certain.

Yep, I've had the same problem several times. If the doctors don't see an obvious problem, then they think it is all my imagination. I know psychological state does affect physical state, so it isn't entirely silly, but also I think it gives the doctors an excuse to do nothing.