One hundred diagnoses

Mental Health 1 Minute

“You have depression.”

“I think it may be bipolar disorder.”

“Borderline Personality is most likely.”

“Have you ever heard of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?”

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You’ve been feeling down lately and you decide to see your doctor. They might refer you to a psychiatrist, or choose to diagnose you themselves. You might do this several times over your lifetime, and each time, you get a different answer. You go, “what the fuck?”

It’s a common conundrum.

In psychiatry, we do not have the luxury of many of the tests and tools used by other fields of medicine. In other words, we don’t have the luxury of x-rays and blood tests to aid in the diagnosis of the vast majority of illnesses we work with. What does that mean? As psychiatrists, we rely primarily on our clinical expertise, the histories provided by individuals and their families, mental status exams, and whatever collateral information is available to come to our conclusions.

After we have gathered all of the available information we arrive at a hypothesis, or best guess – don’t worry. We’re usually right! Psychiatric diagnosis is a finicky thing, because I’d be lying to you if I said I, or any other physician, had the ability to understand perfectly the inner workings of your mind and your own personal experience in an hour-long conversation. The point is, people are complicated, and what may appear as depression one day may come to reveal itself as posttraumatic stress disorder on another.

So what’s the point of seeing somebody, if their diagnosis may be fluid? We can help. Working with a mental health professional at times of difficulty can be an important resource, especially when in a publicly funded healthcare system such as Canada’s. Even if your diagnosis may evolve over time, our treatments are often (and usually) pointed in the right direction. The treatment for depression and anxiety are often the same, and the same is true for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Most importantly, regularly seeing a physician can be a rock during times of turbulence, and I would recommend that to anyone, regardless of diagnosis.

 

Dr. Travis Barron is a resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada.

Published by trwbar

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13 thoughts on “One hundred diagnoses”

  1. Very insightful and enlightening information. It most definitely explains a lot and I’m sure will help to ease a lot of people’s concerns.

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  2. Great explanation. It is kind of funny, my psychiatrist and psychologist know and like each other and have even worked together before, but they don’t always agree about what exactly is plaguing me, although they do share several diagnostic opinions. I’m trying to get to where the labels don’t matter as much to me.

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  4. It’s powerful to be able to talk to someone who listens well. Canadians are so lucky to have a publicly funded healthcare system. Thanks for the follow. I noticed you are proud to be a Newfoundlander. I went to kindergarten in Argentia when my dad was stationed at the US base there in 1960. it was a memorable experience.

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  6. Not to make light of mental illness, I confess that this constant rain here is lowering my mood to new depths. Just looking out of the window is making me feel depressed, and then I have to go out in it. And it is supposed to be the summer…
    Thanks very much for following my blog.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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