Health Diagnoses and Labels: Do they help or hold you back?

Does a diagnosis help a medical condition? Can it help you get treatment and support or do you feel it creates a stigma/reduce opportunities?

I would say it's usually best to have the diagnosis to help explain and provide support but this depends on the health condition - what are your experiences?

Reply 1

Tiger Rag

Mixed:

I've just been told there's a chance I've been diagnosed wrong (again....) and may have to undergo some tests to get the right diagnosis. This is going to make no difference from what I can see. Both conditions are untreatable.

In some cases, (ie, all the stuff that happened last year) it can explain a lot and does mean I have a reason as to why I'm struggling so much with some things. But generally, it hasn't made a lot of difference.

I was recently diagnosed with a pretty painful condition. Originally, I thought I'd just hurt myself somehow and ignored it. Now waiting to get something to help. (I hope!)

But on the flip side, there are people who do just use their label as an excuse to be lazy or whatever. No wonder there's so much stigma. :frown:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 2

claireestelle

A diagnosis for me has been beneficial for all my conditions, yes learning difficulties do hold a bit of stigma or just a general lack of understanding but for me I didn't feel like I was stupid anymore and there was an explaination as to why I was struggling so much. I guess sometimes knowing did affect my self esteem as I felt I couldn't fix what was "wrong" with me but I certainly don't feel like that anymore.

Physical conditions wise I don't think I d have gotten treatment for any of them without a diagnosis.

Reply 3

FantasticMsFox

Original post by BurstingBubbles

Personally, diagnoses have helped my medical conditions. I've been able to receive the appropriate medicine (and doses) in order to reduce the associated risks. The medical condition that affects my life on a daily basis (a neurological condition/disorder) actually helped me to meet a few wonderful health professionals (specialist nurse, neurologist, psychologist/psychiatrist) and a few great friends.

My neurological condition/disorder doesn't create a stigma but there's been stigma and misconceptions attached to it for centuries (some of them still exist today). Whenever I've told someone that I have that neurological condition/disorder, I've never received a negative response or a response that seemed ignorant. I've heard of disability in general being mocked whilst I was in the room (when I was in secondary school) which I found rude and insensitive (they weren't aware of my medical conditions) but I haven't personally experienced negativity towards my neurological condition/disorder.

I would never say I suffer from my neurological condition/disorder...I live with it. I was diagnosed at the age of 8. It pokes me, I poke it back using a joke or two! :biggrin:

Reply 4

choleCcarknif3r

While I keep getting diagnosed wrong, a diagnosis gives me something to explain to people. It means I can explain it to anyone who needs to know and they can help me make adjustments, where they likely wouldn't if I went in with just a list of symptoms. Being diagnosed means I'm no longer under that cloud of 'what is wrong with me?', because I know. I can learn more about it and learn how to help myself. There is stigma attached to it in my case, but I'd rather the stigma that comes with having medical conditions and mobility issues than not being believed or understood at all.

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Reply 5

Queen Cersei

Original post by BurstingBubbles

As much as I think it help to have a diagnosis so treatment can be made, I think labels, especially when it comes to mental health, can actually be extremely harmful. Any label attached to your identity can shape the way you feel about yourself and behave so I feel that general behaviours should be diagnosed without the need to attach a direct and inhibiting label.

Reply 6

It's****ingWOODY

Original post by Queen Cersei

Spot on regarding mental health problems. I've been diagnosed with anxiety, tbh I wish I'd never heard of it. Being diagnosed with anxiety, is kinda... I guess, sometimes you might get anxious about getting anxious and often get yourself going over nothing because you start to feel anxious and you automatically start thinking "Oh no, here we go again...". Anticipatory anxiety. Whereas before I'd heard of it and something was making me anxious, I was just like "I'm just nervous" and it wouldn't extend beyond that. It was certainly much more than just simple nerves, but knowing that now just makes me worse :lol:

It also makes a lot of people claim they have this or that when they don't. It's perfectly normal to get stressed and anxious when faced with certain things, but that doesn't make you an anxiety sufferer, just like it's natural to feel down when bad things happen yet people like to claim they suffer from depression because they get sad sometimes. Definitely not saying that mental health awareness is a bad thing or that most people that think they suffer from MH problems probably don't, but sometimes you buy into your own diagnosis a little too much - this sort of vicious cycle of thinking is all too common in anxiety sufferers.

In regards to physical health, getting diagnosed with something is important because you can then get the right treatment. It can also be a relief sometimes - you might have some things going on that are worrying you, then it turns out to be something relatively minor and you all of a sudden stop believing that you're slowly dying. You just have to be careful, some people again end up buying into their condition too much and subconsciously make themselves feel worse than they really are.

Reply 7

furryface12

This is quite an interesting question. In general for me I think they've been far more good than bad- even if there's nothing as such can be done for some conditions (I've had virtually no help in 3+ years of CFS, other conditions have been a bit better) but having the diagnosis has allowed me to find and speak to other people with it, understand it a bit more and feel slightly less alone with the whole thing. Even if it's just to have a moan occasionally! Without this support there's no way I would have heard of or been diagnosed with another condition I have, and even if this ultimately ends up being changed having a name for some of what I experience has helped a lot.

Many illnesses the diagnosis can allow better treatment to be accessed, either to cure or manage them, which is the obvious advantage. The only downside as other people have said can be the stigma as other people have said particularly for some mental illnesses, hopefully over time this will continue to decrease though as they become better understood.