The importance of a diagnosis

I've always wondered what is the importance of a diagnosis?

Well, it helps doctors and professionals to better understand your problem, and help you decide what's the best route to follow.. at least that's what I think.

A diagnosis helps for a few reasons, and one of those reasons is so insurance can be billed (at least, that's true in the States).

I used to be so focused on having a diagnosis. Now, not so much. I just want to treat my painful symptoms.

I admit, I'm still so focused on my diagnosis. I get so confused sometimes because I felt like I was lied to by my first pdoc and t. My current pdoc and t are wonderful in that they are trying to get me to not focus so much on a diagnosis itself, but treating the symptoms I'm experiencing and going from there.

Every pdoc I've been to has given me a different dx. The last one was bipolar rapid cycling. If I went to a new one today I bet it would be something else. My pdoc now doesn't focus on dx but on symptoms and finding the right med combo to alleviate the symptoms.

I think it is very important. It determines treatment.

The question is then: how successful are the treatments?

Hi,
Regarding diagnosis with abstract conditions that rely on personal gudgement, I would need a second opinion. I just could not trust a single therapist.
The problem is there are so many different schools of thought.

Sadly, it varies wildly. If they can correctly diagnose you the odds are much better. If they can find out the reason why it increases a lot. A correct diagnosis is critical, and that goes for any medical issue.

You won't know until you start trying things and that does not always mean just meds.

Diagnosis itself is tricky, but even with correct diagnosis, the efficacy of treatment isn't that high as far as I know. The whole approach in my opinion is flawed.

It's important to remember that oftentimes diagnosis change over time, throughout different life stages.

Wow, so many have offered their own great replies.

I reiterate that diagnoses may be difficult to pinpoint, and treatments will vary as a result. I doubt that anyone gets the exact diagnosis and treatment first time around. This I believe the case with disorders like bipolar where an individual can present differently each visit.

In my own opinion this is why it i so very important to fully participate and be forthcoming in psychiatrist visits and therapy sessions.

I kniw my DX was accurate. The problem was that the cause was situational & they totally blew it on the situation & treatment of it. It might have helped if they had correctly DX'ED my H because his behavior was a huge part of what was causing the situation that went into creating my Dx. It wasnt until I got away from him that I was able to start getting better. Huge indication of the negative effect he had on my mental health. I dont know that knowing his real DX would have changed much but at least hate might NOT have been a part of what I was dealing with on top of the rest of the situation.

Accurate Dx's can be really helpful if not critical to situational dx's.

It's a diagnosis guideline for a doctor to determine a definitive medical condition.
It's like when a doctor tells you "you have diabetes", except he says "you have depression/anxiety/etc".
Because mental illnesses are much more related to our minds which is our almost-everything, laying a mental diagnosis to a client has a much more unsettling impact.
We need to always remember those are medical diagnoses which are just official paper diagnoses, not mind/soul/consciousness/you/strength-level/intellect-level/etc diagnoses. Just paper-written guidelines for the doctor to treat symptoms according to just protocol guidelines.

I think the correct diagnosis is very important for almost any medical treatment and psychiatry is a branch of medicine.

However, the psychiatric diagnostic system is a box of stupid, so it's a good idea to take the diagnostic label with a grain of salt.

For stuff like psychotherapy, the diagnosis is less important. Diagnosis is based on symptoms, and the therapist hopefully understands your symptoms, but they get their training in psychology, not psychiatry.