Have you ever been diagnosed with depression or anxiety? ADD or ADHD? What about bipolar or even a period of psychosis?
Did you know that all of these diagnoses are just guesses? They’re actually made up.
First, the fact that these diagnoses have, and I quote one of the top psychiatrists in the field, “no basis in reality,” does not mean you don’t suffer with mental health issues.
What it does mean is that there’s absolutely no way to measure or prove that you have any of the common (or uncommon) diagnoses and this has a ton of negative implications that we’ll get into in the episode, including overprescribing, and misdiagnosing.
The other big issue with the inaccuracy of these diagnoses is that your mind is powerful. And most people begin to identify with their diagnosis.
So today we’re talking about how mental health issues are diagnosed and how you can use this knowledge to make informed decisions when it comes to your mental health.
Our guest is Sarah Fay. She’s on the faculty at Northwestern University and the founder of Pathological: The Movement. She is also the author of Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses.
We Will Learn
- Why your mental health diagnosis is not your identity
- Surprising questions to ask your doctor when you receive a diagnosis
- Why our conversation about mental health has stagnated and how to progress it
Links
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