Many of you, in your own blogs, talk about your diagnoses. That's different than talking about your difficulties, and it is more dangerous. If you happen to get labeled with a psychiatric diagnosis, don't get too hung-up on what it is or what it means about your brain. Whoever gave you the diagnosis had to give you something in order to get paid. If you are labeled as anxious, depressed, panicked, bipolar 1, bipolar 2, major depressed, minor depressed, ADD, ADHD, adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of mood and conduct, dysthymia, or anything else, all it really means is that you have more bad days than most people.
There were two articles last week about how inaccurate these categories are, one in The New Yorker, by Jerome Groopman. He writes about the dangers of diagnosing a child with bipolar disorder, and how frequent it is happening. There is also an article in the new Harpers called "Manufacturing Depression" by Gary Greenberg. He talks about how diagnoses are more important to drug companies and insurance companies than to the people who are wearing them.
You see, drug and insurance companies want to get psychotherapy to seem much more medical than it is. If they get you to believe that being depressed is like catching a virus, then they can get you to follow a specific treatment protocol, usually some medication, to treat it.
But the diagnosis is never exact, and is never the same in two people. It is just a description of a few symptoms or behaviors. It is not how you feel, how you think or how your brain works.
Also, diagnoses are changing rapidly, there are trends and fads that seem to work better than the previous trend or fad, until everyone gets shoved into that and then it becomes almost meaningless.
Many of my clients now come to me with their diagnosis in hand. I have to tell them that they need to focus on their difficulties: how they think, feel and act, and what bothers them. If they can deal with that then their diagnosed condition, whatever it may be, will go away.
Everybody has a brain. Every brain is slightly different, with it's own strengths and weaknesses. Very, very few brains are broken.
So pay attention to what you are doing, and if what you're doing gets you in trouble, or makes you miserable, don't do that any more.
That's therapy.
7 comments:
You've got a really refreshing outlook.
You seem to maintain a positive attitude about things, even though you're surrounded by negativity, troubles, and frustration almost every day.
Maybe it comes from experience, or just knowing how to cut through the BS, but either way, I appreciate it. Keep it coming.
So pay attention to what you are doing, and if what you're doing gets you in trouble, or makes you miserable, don't do that any more.
Have true-er words ever been spoken? Yea Therapist!
I agree. That said, I feel that a label can be very helpful if it helps someone deal with troublesome behavior in a more appropriate manner.
Medication...now that's a different issue entirely. I've never taken "brain meds" because I believe the should be used as a last resort in adults, when everything else has been tried and failed. I'm nowhere near there yet.
And, with apologies to fellow parents who feel differently, it would be a cold day in hell before I'd give any to my underage kid.
alright, if that's "therapy".... what is "mental illness" ? or does that not exist in your world? are you one who beleives in if your arm hurts to lift it ; then don't lift it?
PTSD for example. flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, depression...or the fact that a ambulance siren, or watching CPR, or seeing or hearing a baby, can set a person off, due to the fact that lost an infant. is that something someone can't do anymore? or a war veteran? the sound of a car backfire? or fireworks? when it makes them see what they saw or did years ago..and feel the same emotions and fear ... imaginary? don't hear anymore? don;t think anymore? don't look anymore?
when it all boils down n the end... therapists will be the ones without a job... psychiatry and meds save lives... opinions... like yours of late... do little. except end with results like the school shooting today, or mothers killing their own children, or even therapists and psychiatrists being killed by their patients...all of this due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of the REALITY of each individual mind, and need. or cry for help.
ya know. the other day when i first took a look at what you had to say, i thought yu were an alright doc. right now... i'm not so sure. maybe you oughtta re-think your profession. perhaps you should be a gardner, or a chef. and let the more caring minded people have the mental health positions.
my opinion...and you know what people say about those.
Anonymous-
I think you have some valid points, and there are many, many people who need medication in their lives in order to feel like they can function normally. My brother is schizophrenic and CANNOT live a normal life unless he continues to take a variety of different drugs.
I think the point Therapist was trying to make, though, is that people are not their diagnosis. We're people. We have troubles. Some of us have a whole lot more troubles than others. Some of us need medication. But there's a possibility that a large portion of people are being diagnosed way too quickly, and given drugs, rather than treating the source of the problem.
It's like taking care of a leaky sink pipe by putting a bucket under it. It's not ruining your cabinet anymore, but it's not really fixed.
Granted, some people are really in trouble, and need a combination of drugs and therapy. Some just might need therapy to help them work through problems that could develop into something worse.
It's rough, but I think people just need to do a better job. Be better parents. Make your kids go run around outside and scrape their knees. Help them with their homework, and make sure they do it. Be involved so they'll come to you with problems. Discipline them. Give them creative outlets. Give them choices.
Basically, you mentioned each individual mind. Getting therapy relates with that, as does having personal relationships. Many of people's difficulties stem from specific emotions or events. If you just treat the diagnosis, rather than the person, you aren't really solving the problem.
This is one of those topics that can be debated for hours. I'm not in the medical field, but this is just my opinion.
Thanks for publishing this post. The first paragraph was especially helpful as a reminder that I have the diagnosis so that insurance can pay for my therapy, and that the diagnosis doesn't define me. It feels liberating to think of the diagnosis 'just a description of a few symptoms and behaviours'.
this is very, very true. over the years i have run into a lot of people who get a diagnosis and figure they are DONE. look, i have a name for my problem, i have an official excuse to be so screwed up. well, yeah, i guess so, if what you're looking for is an excuse to make it ok for your life to suck, for your personal story to be a tragic one, then i guess you're good to go. but if that's not what you want, having a diagnosis can be very galling, taking your meds can be offensive. i have always been a really smart person, according to tests. i did well in school with little effort. i won academic awards and scholarships like a breeze.my brain was my biggest source of pride, especially once i stopped starving myself thin. to find out that i couldn't trust my own brain to hand me an accurate reality was probably the biggest period of mourning that i've ever had in my life. i've talked to so many people who have gotten their diagnosis and their pills, and they almost gleefully go out and start "acting out clinically" and applying for disability, all of that. i guess i was a *little* relieved to have a name for the issue, insofar that at least i knew that it wasn't simply a matter of being an evil, worthless, amoral human being. but it wasn't anything i could rest or fall back on, that's for sure. i didn't want to be "mental", i didn't want to have an excuse to not excel in my life, i wanted to have a GOOD life. i spent years in therapy, learning how to cope with my impulses and my reality distortions in a way that prevented me from losing jobs, losing relationships, screwing up parenthood. i have a whole elaborate system of checks and balances in place now. one of these days i am going to sit down and write them out in my blog just so people have an idea of what i do instead of taking drugs and defining myself by the diagnosis.
even the fact that i am open about my diagnosis isn't about giving an excuse for bad behavior or for a failure to take my life in hand. it's a very empowering and symbolic thing for me. i spent my childhood keeping other people's dirty secrets, and i don't want to keep secrets about things anymore. if it isn't my fault, i'm not ashamed of it. and if it *is* something i'm ashamed of, it needs to be removed from my life.
simonsays: you are very right. this was something i went over and over with my mom. the thing is, people make one little subtle change to the pattern, and they convince themselves that they're really doing something different. the last boyfriend, for instance, she had two men vying for her attention that night and instead of going for the one in the Harley shirt, as she was drawn to, she chose the one in the button-down shirt instead. Of course, everything else about the relationship was the same old story, but she was utterly convinced that she was making a dramatic change because she picked the guy with the respectable appearance for once. i don't know what you do with that sort of issue, honestly. i never had a chance to work through to a conclusion with my mom, and ever since mom, whenever i run into someone in my life who does that sort of thing i tend to eject them from my circle of chosen acquaintances. i wish them well, but i wish them elsewhere.
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