Failure to disclose diagnosis...

When a psychiatrist or licensed therapist makes a (new, not confirming) diagnosis, is it normal for them not to share that diagnosis with a client immediately? I discovered two new diagnoses only after retrieving my medical file more than a year after discontinuing!

Also, after visiting the ER in the same hospital where I had recently stayed for a month's duration and was given an MI diagnosis--why would paperwork from the ER not list that specific diagnosis? Instead, discharge papers stated: "Your diagnosis is: MENTAL DISORDER, MENTAL DISORDER, MOOD DISORDER." Is this some standard practice with any rational reasoning attached? Has anyone else encountered this practice to seemingly keep a diagnosis secret from a patient?

TIA for any enlightenment offered!

Hi, SkitsDoubt. It does seem like some professionals are close-mouthed. I didn't find out my first therapist had diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder until years later. I also wasn't told about my Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I think I saw it somewhere. But I was told about Bipolar during my first hospitalization, though.

I only remember one hospital where patients were sat down and told what their diagnoses were!

It'll be interesting to see if other people's experiences are like ours.

My psychiatrist focuses more on symptom control than diagnosis. I didn't know I was bipolar until I was IP in 2013. Some doctors don't want their clients hung up on a label instead of learning to function better.

Well, at least now I know it's not just me.

After the first thread reply, I went looking online to find debates across the world on this subject...those incensed that a doctor would withhold their own diagnosis and those insistent that it's immaterial.

If we were discussing a physical ailment, there would BE no debate. One would be legally privy to a diagnosis--which would present the opportunity to study all data available on treatment options, medications--their efficacy and side effects, etc.

Someday there will be definitive tests proving a specific diagnosis. This will weed out those whose symptoms might be contrived and/or imagined--as well as pinpointing a diagnosis when symptoms match another illness. Perhaps that will eliminate the secrecy and the seeming need of some physicians to distrust patients with what they "guess" might be their client's diagnosis.

I found out years after the fact that I had been diagnosed with agoraphobia. It does seem some keep the dx to themselves.

I read that it's illegal for a doctor not to tell you your diagnosis, but I'm not sure if that's true. I was told that they wouldn't tell me my diagnosis because then I would act that way without knowing it. I'm glad I got rid of those toxic therapists and caseworkers.

When I go to the psych ward the staff acts oblivious to my conversion disorder. This makes me pissed off.I was not diagnosed with all my other disorders first.if it weren't for my conversion disorder I'd be mental illness free. But everyone acts like it's invisible until something bad happens and then worse they don't want to deal with it.

Not all medical dx's are accurate any more than are the MI ones even from what we would think are qualified hospitals.

Have a friend who one university hospital suggested ALS....at Mayo they did back surgery he never recovered from but continually got worse & they refused to consider ALS saying their tests were unconclusive. Yes, he is dealing with ALS.

I went to UCLA'S psych hospital. My insurance wanted a dx so they knew what treatments they should be paying for....this wasehile I was working & had good insurance back in the 90's. UCLA couldnt even figure it out thoygh Im sure they put something down to appease the insurance company. It ended up many years later being major depression & anxiety though none never grasped the REAL situstion behind why it was do major....just figured that out almost 20 years later & go figure it was an undiagnosed condition my H had & my own dad had that I had been struggling to deal with 40+ years of my life & the loss mf my career was the trigger to it finally effecting me becsuse I no longer had anywhere to escape to & to top that off, one T I wrnt to thought there was PTSD thrown in, not just from the final trsuma I had gone through. He explained how all the different experiences I talked about were traumatic including the one I was going through at the time

MI's are very complex....much more complex than what a simple dx at a hospital can even imagine. I hold NO VALUE to dx's grim my own personal experience but needed something in order slso to qualify for disability which was approved immediately at the time because I was so messed up.

Life changes & things resolve for some DX'S. others need good monitoring all one's life....yes.

As for why your DX didnt show up on your ER file, it dependson whether it was computerized & whether the information was actually availsble to the ER. Most times ER work is about a one time crisis situation that you are there fir at the immediate time & that is ALL the ER MD's are focused on at that time....treating & stabalizing or determining a need for psych consult to determine if IP is necessary where the actual records would become available. Hard to say how the actual ER works that you went to. But it is not normal for thrm to access records that are filed away in writing & not computerized for easy access because ER'S are usually overloaded in the first place just trying to treat the emergency on hand & accessing record information is ususlly not possible especially if the records office is closed at the time.

When I read my medical records I discovered a lot was withheld from me. I didn't appreciate it at all. Now, I get copies of all my records and read them. I ask questions and demand explanations. It is my right. I consider it a part of the patient-doctor relationship. If the doctor cannot communicate with me I won't bother with them.

A lot of the diagnoses were wrong. A lot of the presenting symptoms and signs were actually due to medication side-effects. For example, Ativan made me hear voices because it made me drowsy. I was actually in stage one sleep and experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations. Another side effect was impulsivity due to SSRIs. I self-harmed and only when I was on an SSRI. That got me a few PD diagnoses that later turned out to be incorrect. Paxil made me manic, so I got a bipolar diagnosis, even though I have never experienced a spontaneous mania.

Sending HUGS to all who want them, and healing thoughts--emotionally, mentally & physically! Thanks to each for sharing heartfelt feelings and beliefs. I feel validated just knowing others had similar experiences.

We should all be so fortunate to find doctors who are vigilant and wise while we are ill and distressed. When the mental fog lifts, though, I want to weigh all my options. A knowledgeable physician should be able to impart rational reasoning for every decision made about my care--and to be amenable to adjusting that care according to my feedback.

Travelinglady: Let's all make appointments at that ONE hospital...

Fharraige: The Psych Ward ...sounds all too familiar.

passionfruit3: My records were all computerized--with a touch of a button ALL doctors & hospitals saw everything about me, they said. How does this happen, then??

Eskie: Love your "malice" quote!

Bozdickens: How kind of them to add "without knowing it." ugh

Happy Camper: Your name made me LOL--especially since I live in a world of "opposites."

Didgee: If I'm ever medicated again, I need your PM on speed dial.

I have experienced this. I think it is due to the mental healthcare professional/team wanting to avoid having the patient fret or become overly consumed with the diagnosis. When I was first in a hospital I only found out my diagnosis when I was present as a family member demanded to know it. More recently, I had my suspicions about secondary diagnoses confirmed when I read the medical questionnaire my psychiatrist had to complete for my military disability benefits application.

Its not just mental health care. There were some really bad things that happened in the medicsl hospital when my mom was dying of cancer but it was like the elephant in the room. Then because of the trauma that occured, I ended up in the same medical hospital beingtreated for anorexia. I got all ourrecords after my mom died because I knew what I saw & experienced. I wanted to know what was really written down. Nothing thathit mead something I could gi after them for but they gave out information to a person not legally authorized to have it whuch was a serious part of the trauma I ended up going through with the person who claimed to be the home care person. My mom also kept asking me when she was going to get better after telling me not to interfear becsuse her MD would tell her everything she needed to know. He never told her she was a fool for ignoring a very treatable cancer until it was stsge 4....like he told me she was...not that I didnt already know it....but thats not something people get formally dx'ed with anyway.....I think hospital situations of all kinds get messy & complicated & are never straight forward like the records make it look for insursnce purposes