[chaotic13]

I've been floating from thread to thread and one PC topic to the next. This week with T away I find myself in random chaotic and sometimes down right crazy thought. This is what happens when I allow my brain to be side-tracked and avoid the pile of work on my desk.

Today I want to know WHAT IS MY DIAGNOSIS? The fact that my neurologist asked me this during an appointment 2 weeks ago and all I could answer was, “I don’t know!” is bugging me today. I was there seeking ADHD meds and he was completing a routine medical history Q&A. I reported that my psychologist had noticed some of the ADHD symptoms and recommended that I try some medication. She can't Rx so she recommended I see my GP, who said he had no idea about ADHD and he had in turn referred me to him. The neurologist then wanted to know more about why I was seeing a psychologist and what her diagnosis was. I was a bit upset at his intrusions into my therapy but answered simply and honestly that I had no idea what her diagnosis was. I had never asked and she had never told me. He was a bit confused by my response but decided to let it go.

Today I want to know what my diagnosis is. I want to know if she thinks I really have a real pathology or if I am just imagining I have one. I'm not a expert in this area of health care and I know how hard it is to self diagnosis. I tore my ACL a while back, I knew what I had done, I had all of the symptoms, but didn't really believe I had actually done it until I finally decided that I had better go to the Ortho and get am MRI a month later.

I can't help wondering today what is my mental problem? Am I a person suffering from depression, general anxiety disorder, ADHD, an abuse survivor, adult-child of an alcoholic, or simply a self-centered brat who doesn’t like her life responsibilities that much at the moment?
Should I really care what I am?Does it really matter?

My T hates diagnosing. In a way, I understand she doesn't like "labels" and labels can be bad. However, sometimes I find comfort in knowing exactly what we're "dealing with". I'd just plain ask her "What is my diagnosis"

[Perna]

I never cared about the label. Talking about your ACL and using the medical model; this summer I had 3x a week therapy for my "shoulder". My primary care guy had thrown medicine at it (for muscle problems) and it didn't respond so it was thought to be a nerve problem and he had me go to physical therapy. My physical therapist thought it might be one thing but didn't have any tests to go by (doctor only did xray to make sure it wasn't joints) and eventually I had an MRI done and there was no sign of the problem the physical therapist thought it was but there was a "tear" we didn't know about and some minor/age-related arthritis but still nothing that made sense with the pain/symptoms I was having. So, things aren't always exact with medical problems either?

Psychological problems are even worse to figure out and name because there are all sorts of sources for them; you can have original families causing problems, you can have physical/body/brain problems causing problems, you might be born with gene or chemical problems, something traumatic might happen to you, etc. and all those impinge on each other and make more or make worse or aren't realized, etc. So, sometimes it's just not worthwhile to put a label on there.

I imagine your therapist is doing like mine did and just "picking" a major difficulty you are having in today's world and trying to help you make that easier. If you are most affected by your ADHD then your T might be hoping to get you help from meds for that right now.

I did vaguely ask my T one day and she said she was working loosely with the diagnosis of GAD but I had/have other problems, trauma, abuse, etc. but for my personal functioning, my anxiety was my biggest problem.

Were I you I'd look at yourself and see what "bothers" you the most about how you get around your own life and work on that and tell everyone that's your "problem" and/or follow your T's lead and work now on the ADHD until that gets a bit better then decide on what to work on next. Someone else's diagnosis doesn't really matter as they're not the one with/working on the problem! I just think it's nice to know what direction one's T is working from is all and if I "agree" that's what I want worked on at this time.