Is this a normal or valid diagnostic process?

I guess a couple months back when I told the CMHC I was looking for treatment, they did a two hour intake interview, and after that two hours they diagnosed me. I don't remember this at all, but regardless... on Friday my T said they relayed a summary of it to her and said it matches what my CM (that I haven't known for long) says, so I guess?

How does it go at your mental health center or practice?

I think it's hard to know what's going on after two straight hours of talking to a person.

@MuddyBoots my friend has a 2 hour intake interview and it was very revealing of what they were suffering from. I guess professionals deal with mental health issues all the time so they can spot the signs.

CANDC
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My husband recently went on re-diagnosing (re establishing pretty much life long diagnosis for medication review) because his GP wanted him to try different meds and he had to see a psychiatrist (he didn’t see one for ages, he sees a therapist and GP renews his long standing prescriptions”.

He had two interviews, had to do questionnaire, they made me do one too, then when he went in person to see a neurologist because psychiatrist wanted to make sure, they filmed him during interview at neurologist. And at the end they said “yep you have XYZ”. He was like “lol Duh of of course I do.”

The whole thing was very lengthy. But he was switching meds because both him, his GP and therapist felt it kind of stopped working but he cannot increase the dose due to his job. So maybe that’s why they wanted to be thorough.

I’d say lots could be determined after talking to someone for two hours but some things could look like something else too. And some stuff is hard to diagnose

There's no way they actually take your answers during this evaluation/interview seriously though, right? In a two hour period, so many things can be mistaken for one another. It is one insignificant snapshot out of a whole lifetime. Yeah, I'm sure they asked about the past, but was I an accurate reporter? Probably not.

If youe int he US....they have to diagnose you with somethign for insurance to pay. sometimes at work we will say "adjustment disorder looking to rule out (whatever else they suspect)

If they are good at what they do, they will recognize it is just a moment in your life. A first impression is not always accurate.

An accurate diagnosis often takes time, especially if the "presentation" doesn't conform to a standard psychiatric illness. Sometimes this can take years.

Psychiatrists and other mental health clinicians are aware patients lie.

Here in Ontario, Canada, "adjustment disorder" is often used for billing purposes. My psychiatrist uses it for all her patients, because it helps protect their privacy. Anyway, OHIP releases anonymous data for research purposes.

Why wouldn’t they take your answers seriously? Even if you lie, they could often see it and lying for no reason is often a sign that person is unwell too. Yes it’s a snapshot. But it’s a snapshot of you, not someone else

So they said it matches what CM said. Do CMH and CM both incorrect?

But don’t you already have a diagnosis and this is just updated info? Or is it a completely different diagnosis? Are you questioning your diagnosis?

Was it a psychiatrist who diagnose you? Although other clinicians can also diagnose, I highly recommend to see a psychiatrist.

@divine1966 - just a thought...

Did you mean highly?

Yep. Thanks. Auto correct. Was getting up for work groggy lol

You're welcome - I had a feeling you were going for the positive aspects rather than dismissing them altogether!

I don’t think it was a psychiatrist. My T just referred to them as the intake evaluator. I was diagnosed previously with various things but at prior CMHCs it was after being diagnosed and referred to them from the hospital and they tweaked or added to that.