Where can I get a diagnosis?

Why would you go to a clinical psychologist rather than a psychiatrist?

Look to pay around 200 pounds for a session (depending where you live) with a private psychiatrist who would be able to diagnose you.

I thought that a clinical psychologist could diagnose you as long as you weren't looking to be prescribed any drugs (which I think only a psychiatrist can do?)

Either way, I can't be diagnosed without paying a fortune?

In the UK, as far as I am aware, only psychiatrists can diagnose people. Plus I'm not really sure that a clinical psychologist would want to diagnose someone. Could I ask why you want a diagnosis? Is it so you can get treatment, because in that case, the diagnosis isn't important really, what's more important is having the right treatment for your symptoms.

As sabertooth said, if you want someone to simply say what potential diagnosis you have, you will have to go private. You could ask your GP to refer you to a psychiatrist, but this usually only happens in severe cases. But to be honest, it sounds like the GP has already given you a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder? Or have I misunderstood?


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I have been to 3 different doctors, convinced that I am mentally ill. I have a degree in Psychology so I objectively know the signs to look for.

The first doctor I went to saying I thought I had an anxiety disorder, but she didn't care and sent me away saying I was "probably fine".

The second doctor I went to saying I thought I had depression, and she said that my problem was actually severe anxiety, and I should go find some counselling. I didn't want counselling, I wanted a diagnosis.

The third doctor I went to relaying what the last doctor had said, but this time mentioned that I didn't want counselling. She gave me a number to call to refer myself to a service providing CBT. Good enough, I thought.

But my therapist has done nothing but insist that something happened in my childhood which caused me to have anxious thought processes, which it absolutely did not. In fact, most of my bad childhood experiences were caused by the anxiety itself, since people bullied me for the "hilarious" overreactions I provided. Other than that, I had an incredibly good upbringing.

Not to mention, I don't necessarily have "anxious thought processes", I go through episodes which are seemingly unconnected with (but sometimes triggered by) my environment. It's pretty much the hallmark of a large proportion of mental illnesses.

Either way, neither my therapist, nor the other people in the service she works for, can diagnose me. All I want is to be tested for a diagnosis, even if they diagnose nothing. Where can I go to get this? Do I need to find an independent clinical psychologist?

Hmm. I find this rather strange to be honest.

I've been running away from my diagnosis for the last 6 or 7 years. In fact I think I can say that the worst thing that ever happened to me was getting a diagnosis. The medication that really screws you up, the loss of control of your life, constant medical interference in your life, no one believing anything you say because they think it is part of the illness. So many bad things.

Do yourself a favour and don't get diagnosed and if you do don't tell anyone about it.

But isn't as simple as just testing you and giving you a diagnosis is it- mental health issues just aren't that simple. What kind of tests do you have in mind anyway? The area of depression/anxiety is not so cut and dried as all that but a complex and often shifting problem that doesn't always fit problems into neatly labeled boxes.


And even if they were - giving you problem a name won't necessarily help solve the underlying issues- If you want to explain to people why you behave like you do- you can- how will giving it a name make it any easier?

You say you don't want concelling - why ? Might it not help you find some answers ?
Having a degree in pyscology isn't going to help you be objective about your own mental health- you can't view something from the outside when you are at the centre of it.

It sounds to me that you are getting pretty good treatment at the moment- you have been offered cancelling you have a therapist - If you are unhappy with them why not try and change to another one.

You could of course go private- but in the end I am not sure what you are looking for exists

1. You are right, mental illnesses are not clear-cut and easy to distinguish, they are all occurring in the same organ afterall. But that doesn't mean that diagnosis isn't possible, there are diagnostic tests which can point to the likely culprit(s) when used by a professional. A lot of people I know have just walked into their GP's and been diagnosed just from describing their situation to the doctor.

Hmm. I find this rather strange to be honest.

I've been running away from my diagnosis for the last 6 or 7 years. In fact I think I can say that the worst thing that ever happened to me was getting a diagnosis. The medication that really screws you up, the loss of control of your life, constant medical interference in your life, no one believing anything you say because they think it is part of the illness. So many bad things.

Do yourself a favour and don't get diagnosed and if you do don't tell anyone about it.

Absolute rubbish, sorry. I agree with not just taking the first medication you're given as it should be an avenue that's explored if different types of therapy have been tried and failed, at which point it becomes clear that there's a chemical imbalance in the brain that needs fixing with meds. However, the absolute worst thing you can do about mental health problems is just leave them untreated. They'll never get better and likely just manifest into something worse.

Depression or anxiety aren't some taboo illness which you'll be locked up in an asylum for against your will, nor will you have health professionals on your back forcing you to take a certain medication or try a certain type of therapy. If you don't pursue it, you'll be left alone, they've got enough people to be dealing with so they're not going to chase you up. A mental illness is just like any other illness - something isn't working right in your body, and you need to go and get it seen to.

Rubbish is it?

Ever been told that if you don't voluntarily go into hospital they'll send the police round to cart you off to hospital? No? Then don't talk about what you don't know about.

I stand by my original post.

Rubbish is it?

Ever been told that if you don't voluntarily go into hospital they'll send the police round to cart you off to hospital? No? Then don't talk about what you don't know about.

I stand by my original post.

No, because I'm not considered a danger to myself or others. My neighbour actually is carted off fairly regularly on mental health grounds due to type 1 bipolar, and even then it's only when her family have to all the police before she does something silly in the middle of an episode. If this has happened to you personally then I'm sorry to hear that; however, your perception of how the system works is clearly distorted by yourown bad experience if this is the case. The fact is that mental health teams don't insist on putting you in a ward based on diagnosis alone, especially not with something like anxiety or depression. They have to have sufficient reason and evidence to believe that you are a risk to either yourself or those around you. They don't just take in every Tom, Dick & Harry who's diagnosed witha mental illness - with the hundreds of thousands of diagnoses each year, where would they all go? I've been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder and it's unbelievable the amount of chasing I have to do just to get an appointment with my consultant in several months time

I'm sorry, that sounds terrible. I have a friend who is in and out of the mental hospital regularly, she hates it because they lock her in and force her to eat, but the alternative would be her either starving to death or jumping off a bridge, it's sorta the lesser of two evils. So maybe these people are trying to protect you and it really is the best thing for you even though it doesn't seem like it right now?



I agree, I'm a big believer in being honest and open about mental health to try and relieve the stigma surrounding it just because it's in your brain doesn't mean it defines you any more than having an amputated leg would define you. Can I ask, how were you diagnosed?

I have been to 3 different doctors, convinced that I am mentally ill. I have a degree in Psychology so I objectively know the signs to look for.

The first doctor I went to saying I thought I had an anxiety disorder, but she didn't care and sent me away saying I was "probably fine".

The second doctor I went to saying I thought I had depression, and she said that my problem was actually severe anxiety, and I should go find some counselling. I didn't want counselling, I wanted a diagnosis.

The third doctor I went to relaying what the last doctor had said, but this time mentioned that I didn't want counselling. She gave me a number to call to refer myself to a service providing CBT. Good enough, I thought.

But my therapist has done nothing but insist that something happened in my childhood which caused me to have anxious thought processes, which it absolutely did not. In fact, most of my bad childhood experiences were caused by the anxiety itself, since people bullied me for the "hilarious" overreactions I provided. Other than that, I had an incredibly good upbringing.

Not to mention, I don't necessarily have "anxious thought processes", I go through episodes which are seemingly unconnected with (but sometimes triggered by) my environment. It's pretty much the hallmark of a large proportion of mental illnesses.

Either way, neither my therapist, nor the other people in the service she works for, can diagnose me. All I want is to be tested for a diagnosis, even if they diagnose nothing. Where can I go to get this? Do I need to find an independent clinical psychologist?

mental health often isnt giving a definitive diagnosis because it doesnt have one, and sometimes mental health can manifest itself in so many different ways that what a doctor may see may not actually be what is wrong with you.

in terms of counselling, dont knock it before you have tried it, doctors wont put you on medication and it will magically take all your whims away, you have to tackle the underlying issues and problems you have head on through counselling or CBT to fully recover, all medication will do is mask the symptoms.

I often find that people looking for a diagnosis just want to put a name on things, some people do it to find closure for their problems, and there are many different reasons. but just know that a diagnosis labelling you on your medical records as having X, Y or Z mental illness will not cure you of it, nor will it help ease your symptoms in any way, all it will do is make you even more aware of what you have and why you do things.

to solve anything here you need to try the counselling and try the CBT. in terms of the whole family past thing, deeply search inside of you to try and find reasons to these problems, as they dont just come on for no reason, your not born with anxiety, there are usually triggers, and they can be so small that you may not even think they were triggers, so do some searching and im sure with CBT you will find your underlying cause.

please just roll with the counselling and stop searching for a difinitive answer to your problems, stop searching for that label, start searching for a way to overcome the problems you have. after all anxiety and other mental illnesses are only a label used to explain why you behave the way you do, and they wont help you.

Oh, sorry, did originally plan to add input on the original topic but I got sidetracked

I'm still unsure as to whether or not my diagnosis is actually properly official. Obviously I went to my GP initially, we talked about meds and I was reluctant to try them, and I ended up going for beta blockers as they just block the physical symptoms which was a big issue, so they seemed like a good choice while I was being referred for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I had a telephone interview for the therapy and answered a bunch of questions, and the result was that it was "indicated that I am suffering from generalised anxiety disorder", which I and my GP also received a letter confirming. So I think with the fact that it's on my NHS file that I'm registered with the local MH services, plus on meds for the anxiety and had therapy for it, if I've not been officially diagnosed then I'm as good as