You Are More Than A Diagnosis

Often times, when we think about mental health, we think about people being diagnosed with schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. Whether you look up your symptoms and diagnose yourself as having a manic episode, or you see multiple sides of someone and think, “they have multiple personalities disorder”, we often put a lot of weight on a diagnosis!

A DIAGNOSIS IS NOT A LIFE SENTENCE.

It’s important to remember that each of us are unique individuals. Not one person is 100 percent like another person. The DSM-V (the book that lists the symptoms and characteristics of mental health diagnoses) was created as a guide for clinicians and professionals to use to provide the appropriate care to those experiencing these symptoms – almost meant to be as a starting point to guide the professional into next steps for care.

Have you ever gone to one doctor who diagnosed you with something, then you go to another doctor and they’ve diagnosed you with something else? If you haven’t experienced it, I’m sure you’ve heard of it happening.

Research has shown that African Americans are more likely to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia than other race groups. Why? Because of many cultural factors that might impact the client’s presentation. Distrust of the medical system and doctors, common in the black community, can be seen as or mimic paranoia. Being cautious of medical providers due to our long history of not trusting the healthcare system (for many reasons) should be regarded as a survival skill in black people and not be mistaken for a symptom of psychosis. Religion and spiritual beliefs are also a survival mechanism for many black people, that can often be misinterpreted as hallucinations/delusions by a clinical provider.

PEOPLE ARE OFTEN MISDIAGNOSED.

Interestingly, just because you’ve experienced trauma, doesn’t mean you have PTSD. Just because you did something out of rage, doesn’t mean you have bipolar disorder or intermittent explosive disorder. Just because you cry often, doesn’t mean you have depression.

Human beings are SO complex. Our lived experiences, among many other factors, shape us into who we are, how we respond to things and how we internalize or externalize our emotions. While we might present one way on the surface, there’s often some underlying reason or cause. While sometimes it is indeed biological – and sometimes you indeed will have PTSD or Bipolar disorder or depression, it’s important to remember that this diagnosis doesn’t define you. The diagnosis is just one way of trying to make sense of what you’re presenting with.

A mental health diagnosis is necessary for most clinicians to provide to be reimbursed by their funders (like insurance companies). It’s made by essentially checking boxes for each symptom you report experiencing or are observed experiencing. It’s not a sole predictor of outcomes and it’s not permanent. Your diagnosis may change based on frequency and intensity of symptoms, ability to cope with and heal from the event or situation that brought on the symptoms and based on more exploration and work with you. A clinician may diagnose you with Major Depressive Disorder in the beginning, but as they start to work with you may realize your depressive symptoms were a result of a traumatic event that you keep being triggered by and having flashbacks to, and diagnose you with PTSD.

Other times, what you’re presenting with may not even fit into a diagnosis! Most diagnoses require a time period that the symptoms occur and that you have a certain number of certain symptoms to be diagnosed. Sometimes, with complex trauma for instance (that’s trauma you’ve been exposed to for a long time or over and over like child abuse), it’s clear you are experiencing the lingering long-term symptoms of your traumatic experiences, but you don’t meet the diagnosis criteria for PTSD. A clinician may diagnose you in order for your insurance company to be willing to pay for your treatment, so they try to capture your symptoms as best they can with a diagnosis closest to what you present with.

While you are provided with a diagnosis and sometimes it can be helpful to know there’s a name for what you’re going through, don’t get so caught up on the diagnosis that you feel worse. Focus instead on your healing process. Trust that your therapist and/or psychiatrist is highly trained to work with what you’re bringing to the table, not just what the paper says you’re diagnosed with. And you are more than your diagnosis.