[pachyderm]

Here is a New York Times Web article, though it is basically on diagnoses for "physical" illnesses, that might be relevant to the effects of "mental" diagnoses too:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/health/chen9-18.html

[Junerain]

It is interesting how dependent on the name of our illness, we are.......when someone asks us what's wrong? It's like we have to an elaborate illness complete with a name we cannot simply say, "My mind is racing/my affect is flat/I feel dissociated...........people are always curious if one seems a little off, and we cannot be too dependent on the name of our illness, well, I have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, perhaps, we are just off, because that is our personality at the moment, because just as people may look different, depending on the day, we may feel a little different, due to either external issues, or, more often than not for me, my inner life, has its own ebb and flow........

[splitimage]

I tend to not think too much about my Dx's. In part becasue I don't feel entirely comfortable with cptsd. I have no problem telling people that I've suffered from major depressive episodes and that I'm undergoing treatment for depression - it's a manageable part of life that doesn't define me as a person.

I do however think some Dx's carry a lot more weight and have definite negative connotations associated with them. For example I fought tooth and nail to get the label borderline removed from my records after a temporary pdoc Dx'd me with that simply on the basis that I used to cut.

I also feel pretty strongly about the label alcoholic, and am very careful about who I share that with. i'm comfortable sharing it with close friends, but with strangers / work there's no way I'd want them to know becasue of the stigma attached.

--splitimage

[jacqueline1110]

Interesting...very interesting. lol

[iamtwilight]

well... to be honest there once was a time when i was defined by my diagnosis and was proud of it (because i got manic and was able to do great things). i had a friend who i used to compare our DXes with. note that i've never told this to anyone because i knew it was very stupid. illness, whether mental or physical, is not a game - it's something you have to work on so you can get rid of it/manage it... not make it worse so you'll get more sympathy or whatever. it's not a title.

thanks for posting this pachy. =)