[Under*Over]

You guys ever dealt with this.

I started out with a generalized anxiety diagnosis with social anxiety being a big part of it, depression, ADHD, and adjustment disorder diagnosis

Then when I didnt respond to antidepressants and DID respond to mood stabilizers and antipsychotics... I got a Bipolar NOS diagnosis. This changed to bipolar 1 after a while. Then my psychotic symptoms got more severe and more prominent and after some VERY clear periods of psychosis I got the schizoaffective bipolar type diagnosis.

Its been a lot. A long road. Other diagnoses that have been suggested to me are avoidant personality disorder, social anxiety disorder, and most recently PTSD.

But Im- after all this time- fairly confident in my schizoaffective diagnosis. ADHD as well. I dont like it. In fact I hate it- which is why I stop my meds- in an attempt to prove that “if I dont need them then there must not be anything wrong with me”. But each time that fails, I get worse and the reality of my diagnosis becomes more final. So while I dont like it- it fits- and I think Ive landed.

How about you all. What are your journeys through different diagnoses/misdiagnoses. What made things change for you. And do you think your current diagnosis is “right”?

Diagnosis in mental health is mostly interpretation, nothing more. There aren't tests to determine psychic or emotional conditions in the same way as there in physical health. See four different mental health professionals, get four different diagnoses (depending on their particular specialism/training/interest). If you are a hammer everything looks like a nail.

If you are critical of medication and are living with schizoid behaviour, you might be interested to do some research around the work of Rufus May: Rufus May – Holistic approaches to mental health

[SlumberKitty]

My main diagnoses are major depression with psychotic features, general anxiety disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. It has been suggested that I have OCD and PTSD and some sort of dissociation disorder but I don't think those are "officially" anywhere. I'm comfortable with my current diagnoses. I think they fit. I'm less comfortable with the OCD and PTSD. I think sometimes if you have been through trauma they want to put that PTSD label on you but I don't really think I fit the criteria. I dissociate all the time but I don't know what disorder it would fit into. My diagnoses seems to change with each new doctor I go to and each therapist I go to. But I think the three mentioned at the beginning fit me.

[zoiecat]

I do the same thing with my meds every few months. I fall back down the rabbit hole my T yells at me and we begin the cycle again.

[Misterpain]

Here's a fix for there need to label:

DON'T PLAY,

They have all these labels so they can shuffle the deck periodically , because no label ,no treatment so says the insurance industry .

So dont take them personally ,don't invest resources or energy into them , i wear tri Focals,i dont let that define me , unless you piss me off and i want to hit you or drive over your foot ,then i own "visually impaired" ,(i am kidding i dont run people down ,often ! Heck its almost wendsday and i havent gotten 1,LOL)

Now sarcastic, smart ***** I got covered ,but realy don't let today's "working diagnosis" screw with you ,in mental health every diagnosis is "working" because there are no tests or known facts , hell they dont even know if bipolar 1,2,NOS etc is rooted from 1 disease ,even in physical medicine theres alot not known . Theres 40 known "flavors" of muscular dystrophy yet therès like 60 flavors that people have ,Why the discrepancy ? Because thanks to genetic testing 20 flavors that got lumped in as MDA are now known to be completely different disease not related to the dystrophys.

I am the fountain of useless knowledge , there's probably a diagnostic code for that,i havent looked ,because i am not a label one or 100 ,i am unique and so are you , every working diagnostic label is the opinion of the person giving it , theres no hard science or independent lab proven result that confirms any opinion in mental health .

[MoxieDoxie]

I do not ask.....It has been cPTSD always original T slapped me with Borderline Personality disorder with Narcissistic traits. This one agrees with cPTSD but feels I have a part with Borderline and suggested I have DID with no amnesia between parts but they take executive control but since he is not a psychiatrist he is sticking with cPTSD and he did parts mapping and parts integration for good measure. LOL

Even with all that he is trying to kick me out the door in my demented mind he is.

[Rive.]

Diagnoses may have their place in *some* instances but they are notoriously flawed in terms of their validity and reliability. Much research has also reflected this.

A diagnosis does not define a person. Not the whole of a person at any rate.

[SummerTime12]

Mine have been all over the place too. I started off with just major depressive disorder, then eating disorder NOS was added, and then generalized anxiety. After that they added PTSD. Later on they added ADHD and OCD. I saw my psychiatrist yesterday and my after-visit summary listed depression, ptsd, anxiety, eating disorder and ocd. ADHD was just a one time diagnosis from a previous psychiatrist and was definitely inaccurate. The only one left I disagree with is OCD. I have OCD symptoms but not full blown OCD, I don’t think. My therapist is convinced I only have PTSD and everything else is just a symptom of that.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I started off with Bipolar, then major depression, then double depression, then BPD. Now it's MDD reoccurring, anxiety disorder, and BPD.

[sophiebunny]

My diagnoses have never changed in 30 years. Bipolar 1 disorder with psychosis, DID, OCD. I've been hospitalized for a year, spent 3 years in a partial hospital program, had many inpatient admissions lasting about 6 weeks each, had the same psychiatrist for 24 years and the same therapist for 12 years. Stability in care matters a lot.

[Victoria'smom]

MDD > BPII > BPI > Personality disorder nos > mood disorder nos > BPI > mood disorder NOS > BPI / personality disorder NOS > BPII > SzA.

[nottrustin]

So much about mental health diagnosis is interpreting symptoms as they present. Since so many symptoms overlap it is a process of watching the patterns. Typically they will start with a more vague diagnosis such as mood disorder or anxiety. Then as time progresses and the provider sees a pattern and gets to know a client they will fine tune and come up with a more definitive diagnosis. Frequently they will then change it. In some cases like with schizoaffective disorder they may want to make sure before they make the final diagnosis until the are sure because of the stigma and possible negative effects of the diagnosis.

Another issue is that severe depression can look like psychosis in some people. Also, for some people using some drugs including marijuana it can appear that a person is psychotic. Some people also mask some of their symptoms so the provider doesn't have a full picture

My pcp originally had mood disorder in the beginning because she needed something but needed to get a bigger picture.

T had me with a diagnosed of Major depression and Conplex PTSD. Over time she realized the Ptds was the major issue. When triggered my mood spirals and I have a hard time stopping it.

Psych np originally diagnosed me with Bipolar. T totally disagreed. She felt that because I often try to put on a happy face it my appear that it was bipolar. Sometimes when I was trying to appear in a much better place than I was I over compensated and appeared manic when really I was depressed. I agreed with T completely. After about a year or so I mentioned it to psych np and she agreed with T and stated she had known for a while and just never changed the paperwork so she did then.

When I started with EMDR T she used only PTSD because that was what I was going for. She also spoke with T a couple of times because I was seeing both of them. She agrees that PTSD is my primary diagnosis.

[The_little_didgee]

I've been labelled a lot of different things in my late teens from adjustment disorder, BPD, psychotic disorder NOS, to bipolar disorder. A few others I have seen in my records were PTSD (not sure how I got that one), anxiety and MDD. After I developed psychosis at 25 it all changed. Sometimes I wonder if the prodrome started at age 18, when I began to experience mild psychotic symptoms.

Medication can cause psychiatric symptoms. A few SSRI's I took made me manic, even though I don't have bipolar disorder. Zoloft and Paxil made me suicidal throughout the entire treatment, which is how I got the BPD diagnosis.

In my early 30s I figured it all out after extensive research. I needed to figure out why I felt different, so I could recover from psychiatry. I discovered autism spectrum disorder and discussed it with my mother. She was surprised that I looked into it, because she really wanted to discuss it with me. After that I got assessed and was diagnosed with it. My life changed after that.

The diagnoses that I acknowledge are:

GAD, ASD, MDD with psychotic features or DDX First Episode Psychosis and adjustment disorder.

A diagnosis can definitely change over time. Sometimes it can take years to figure out what is going on.

Interesting fact about my psychiatrist: She bills OHIP using the DSM code 390 (adjustment disorder) for all her clients regardless of their actual diagnosis.

OHIP records these codes and releases them to researchers.

[susannahsays]

I don't personally care if my insurance releases anonymized data, including diagnostic codes, to researchers. I'm just a statistic.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by Under*Over

You guys ever dealt with this.

I started out with a generalized anxiety diagnosis with social anxiety being a big part of it, depression, ADHD, and adjustment disorder diagnosis

Then when I didnt respond to antidepressants and DID respond to mood stabilizers and antipsychotics... I got a Bipolar NOS diagnosis. This changed to bipolar 1 after a while. Then my psychotic symptoms got more severe and more prominent and after some VERY clear periods of psychosis I got the schizoaffective bipolar type diagnosis.

Its been a lot. A long road. Other diagnoses that have been suggested to me are avoidant personality disorder, social anxiety disorder, and most recently PTSD.

But Im- after all this time- fairly confident in my schizoaffective diagnosis. ADHD as well. I dont like it. In fact I hate it- which is why I stop my meds- in an attempt to prove that “if I dont need them then there must not be anything wrong with me”. But each time that fails, I get worse and the reality of my diagnosis becomes more final. So while I dont like it- it fits- and I think Ive landed.

How about you all. What are your journeys through different diagnoses/misdiagnoses. What made things change for you. And do you think your current diagnosis is “right”?

My first Dx at age 16 was Major Depression with Psychotic Features

It has since morphed to psychotic disorder NOS . Then schizoaffective and schizophrenia (depends on who u ask honestly )

I also have CPTSD as well as eating disorder and substance abuse Dx but both of those are in remission

In my opinion diagnoses are arbitrary and irrelevant to me and more relevant for insurance billing purposes and communication between treatment providers

[SalingerEsme]

In high school, I was DX anorexia / ocd, but it never got too out of control. I went to boarding school, and didn’t want to be sent home and in college too I played soccer and had to be a specific weight in order to play in the game. In retrospect, I doubt the ED dx.

In my twenties, a psychiatrist DX’d me with Panic Disorder/ OCD. I refused medication and just toughed it out.

In my late thirties, I had big stresses like losing a baby and getting a divorce. I didn’t want my work to suffer and I was anguished, so once again I went to a psychiatrist. He dx me with OCD, Panic Disorder, insomnia, and GAD. This time, I did take the meds: Lexapro, Lorazepam, Ambien XR 12.5.

Ten years later I tried talk therapy for the first time. My T gently and slowly disputed my kind of standard DX of OCD. He spent lots of time untangling my history, and like strange magic my lifelong OCD symptoms and habits relented. He dismissed all the prior Dx’s , replacing it with PTSD (chronic). He doesn’t think I need medication, but more in depth talk therapy. I still take Ambien though .

Sometimes therapy is grueling and I have trouble containing the dissociation to sessions. I will sometimes take Vyvanse to snap
Out of it and face a big stretch of work. That probably isn’t smart, but I can’t manage both therapy excavating csa and my real life with the coping skills I possess, especially as we have nearly eradicated the daydreamy dissociation that was my first and foremost defense. My Pcp doesn’t mind me taking Vyvanse bc she is super proud I stopped with lorazepam.