Is it normal to fear being diagnosed?

I am aware of my need to speak to a professional about my mental health but I can never manage to go because I'm afraid of an unfavorable diagnosis. Do most people feel this way when they don't know what's wrong?

Yes I have this a lot of fear about being dx and its normal to feel like this Iam so scared of going to doctors with blood work because of something wrong can show up on my blood test

Hello, GothGeisha. Do you anticipate at some point you will be able to get better without professional help? You speak of an "unfavorable" diagnosis. Do you have a favorable one(s) in mind? Could it be you fear being diagnosed with a mental illness as opposed to a particular one?

I think everyone has some fear of the unknown. To allow fear to inhibit your ability to make decisions that benefit you is another matter. Talking to a professional about your fears will take courage. Do you think you are worthy of a life with less fear?

Yes I think it is common...everyone is afraid of the unknow. But you just have to tell yourself that you need to and put one foot in front of the other and get it done

Yeah, I think it is really common, especially if you let your imagination run away with all the bad stuff it could mean. I mean, if you think of a psychiatric diagnosis in terms of "one who flew over the cuckoos nest" or any one of a whole lot of Marilyn Manson videos, yeah, I don't think I would want a diagnosis either.

The Byz has a good question in simply asking what is it that you are afraid of? is it more one disorder rather than another? What is the worst case scenario? What is the most likely? It might be worth while to go see someone and start asking questions, because most likely, not knowing won' help much more, because unless you are very tough minded, your imagination may make it hard to deal with the uncertainty.

I was relieved to be diagnosed with severe depression because it meant that I was about to start feeling better (through drugs / therapy) and that gave me a reason to go on for a bit longer and not to try and kill myself. I had been plagued with suicidal thoughts for years and when the doctor diagnosed me I told myself to give the professionals a chance to help me.

18months later I was diagnosed as having a dependent personality disorder. I already knew this was the case because I had read so much about my symptoms. The diagnosis only clarified what I had known for months.

The attitude of mental health professionals shocked me. I was told by my care co-ordinator that the DPD diagnosis implied negative things about me as a person. While I was an in-patient one of the nurses said that she was sorry that the psychiatrist had talked about my personality as being 'disordered'

Once again, I am relieved and not at all upset by my diagnosis as I can now work out why I have struggled socially, and in so many other ways for the last 27 years. I can go easy on myself and only be with people who understand and accept me instead of trying to be something I am not.

Where there is predjudice against our conditions then I would expect there is a fear of diagnosis. Do you have people around you who are unaccepting of difference? We are all different and I am proud of who I am. Even more so now that I know why I've suffered.

Going without the right diagnosis and treatment caused me to become so ill that I lost my job, my home and my partner (he took my 3 year old son with him). It nearly cost me my life. My 3 children would probably have grieved for the rest of their lives. Only now that I am on the right treatment am I able to genuinely enjoy them.

I hope that telling you about experiences has helped you. Please do not allow yourself to become more ill by not seeking the right kind of help.

Happy New Year !

DP1 (and proud of it!!!!!)

I was actually relieved to get a Dx, actually several. Because it gave me something concrete to work on. I could research treatment options. I could research the disease. And most importantly I could get help. There wasn't anything fundamentally wrong with me as a person, I had an illness that could be treated.

I got to admit, I don't always like being a psych patient, and I'm not wild about the idea of needing meds long term, but I can honestly say today that thanks to treatment and going IP this past summer, I feel better than I have in 20 years, and feel like I did back in my early 20's before my MH problems started.

--splitimage

For many it is "normal" to fear being mentally unwell. But let's face the truth, whether you go to see a doctor and find out if there's a diagnosis that fits you and treatment to help you, you will still be the way you are...whether anyone puts a label to it or not. Receiving a dx does not change how you feel and what your struggles are, but it can help to change it in the future.

Go. Everyone who is in treatment has done that, gone for help. May you find out that your fears are unfounded and help is readily available.

I agree with what others have already said. It's normal to fear a dx of a mental illness. I kept my dissociation a secret for five years because I feared being dx'd with DID (which I eventually was indeed). On the other hand, once I got the dx, I could get treatment. So if your symptoms are bad enough, I would say kick yourself in the butt and go.

I fear dx. I was given a dx 2 years ago. And just now am coming to accept it. I already knew about many of the dx. But this one was different, Avpd. I just started accepting it. I am not saying its easy. What dx do you fear? Is it one you want to talk about here?

I feel the same way about medical dx. Afraid of what they are going to find. But if its physical dx, it may be really important to get it soon. I waited too long to see a doctor and major surgery was the result. Actually in 2 cases. In both cases I might have been able to prevent surgeries.

Like splitimage, I was relieved to receive a diagnosis, but I know that's not the way most people feel. As the others said, it's not uncommon for people to fear having a diagnosis.

I made the first step and I found a new doctor, my old one was a friend of my mother and I never could talk to her. I also bravely told my new doctor that I would be making an appointment to speak to her about my mental health. I am afraid of admitting to myself and a doctor how out of control I am. I am also afraid of medication. I was treated for depression when I was a child and it became so much worse on antidepressants. I only seek medical help when I'm depressed and I've decided to break that cycle.

Good for you, GothGeisha.

Very good idea. That's when things started to change for me as well. Good luck to you!

Great first step GG. That first talk is difficult but it gets easier once the ice is broken. Like you, by the time I went for help I had early memories, and negative experiences fogging my view and feeding my fears of doctors and all things related to the medical and psychiatric profession.

I felt a strange mixture of relief and fear when I was diagnoised. Relief that my search for understanding my symptoms had been narrowed - even if I didn't exactly respect the source or research behind the determinations and recommended treatment; Relief that a label could explain my strange and self distructive behaviours; the merry go round that was my life. Fear that accepting the dx meant I would become my dx - terminally ill - chronically dysfunctional. Fear that I would have to sell out to get help. So many mixed emotions were at play.

The labels did change me or at least change how I saw myself; how I reflected on my past and envisioned my future; how I wrestled with inner conflicts.

I think my uneasy feelings about a diagnosis had more to do with fearing treatment that would require medication and psychotherapy. Accepting that kind of treatment would fly in the face of my professed values and beliefs. I avoided getting a dx for a long time because I was sure it would lead somewhere I wasn't prepared to go. I was so sure I knew the next step that I wouldn't take the first one.

When I finally decided to take that first step to get a dx without looking forward to the next step is when I discovered that the next step would still be in my hands. No one could impose meds on me; no one could force me to talk. Disclosing my problems with a doctor, getting a psych dx did not mean I would have to relinquish my rights or denounce my principles.

Disclosing to my doctor did mean that I was willing to explore the options he and his profession could offer to me. It meant that I was willing to listen and learn; to have my assumptions and prejudices challenged, perhaps even altered. I was eventually able to do this with confidence knowing it could not hurt and maybe it would actually help me to make more informed decisions for myself.

Unlike in my early memories of doctors I am not a child who has no right to refuse. I am an adult and now I do have the right to refuse. This power makes me more receptive to the suggestions and treatment options I now invite from my current doctor. I see him as a partner in my health care whom I can trust and not an authority figure who can hurt me.

Having that first talk and receiving a dx is a big step. I hope for you that it goes well and that you are able to resolve some of the worries and concerns about what may or may not come next for you.