Friday, September 28, 2007

All Those Psych Labels

5 comments:

Synchronicity said...

you have raised a lot of very good points. i am not sure what the answer is. without labels how would people get treatment should they need it?

Jayme said...

I was misdiagnosed numerous times before they got it right, and once they did, I felt a sense of comfort knowing that others carried the same diagnosis. I wasn't alone. But when it came to treatment, having the label didn't help at all. The doctors and therapists didn't know what the hell they were doing and they only helped to keep me disabled and in the "sick role".

As for labels and treatment:

When I was labeled with schizophrenia, I was considered hopeless and chronic and given medications that kept me schizophrenic. When I stopped taking the medication, I was given a different diagnosis - Borderline Personality Disorder - because the behaviors I had displayed due to the antipsychotic meds were gone but I was still behaving "abnormally". Being labeled BPD meant that I was hopeless in a different kind of way, and they still didn't know how to treat me. I was mostly met with disdain until I was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder, which was far more acceptable than BPD. So then they tried to help me because I was suddenly no longer hopeless. My treatment has always been dictated by whatever label I happen to have at the time.

My point is that a label doesn't necessarily lead to appropriate treatment. The answer is to treat the person FIRST rather than the label. Ask the person what they need. You'd be surpised at the answer.

Mark p.s.2 said...

wow brilliant talk. great posting

liberated psych said...

This is exactly right. If you question anything, it goes into your file as combative and there is no convincing argument that you can use to correct a misdiagnosis because you are not regarded as a thinking, reacting human whose opinion is even heard, let alone considered.

Anonymous said...

Wow, this is great. I don't get people who think the labeling process removes stigma. Having been labeled bipolar, it is illegal for me to be human. And I'm crazy if I complain about it. Dehumanize is the perfect word.