It's always seemed to me that psychiatrists (moreso than therapists) are more likely to label someone as having such and such disorder because it makes it easier for them to treat a patient without having to listen to them. Once they've put you in one of their neatly defined little boxes, they treat you as they would treat anyone in that box, without necessarily listening to each patient's specific complaints. This isn't always so, but it has long been my experience with psychiatrists that they don't have enough time to actually listen to problems and all they want to do is figure out which medicine to throw at you, and oftentimes they don't listen to patient complaints when their medicine of choice doesn't work for them. I once had side effects from a medication that the drug label told me to seek immediate attention for and to stop taking the drug immediately if I experienced them, but when I informed my psychiatrist that I was experiencing them, he told me to hang on for a few more days and see if it cleared up and the medication helped at all. I listened to him, against my better judgment, and the side effects worsened to the point where I was in more agony than without it, and it was then that I told my psychiatrist I was stopping the medication and didn't want to hear any of his other suggestions (this was also the second time a medication he'd suggested caused more pain than help). Needless to say I found a new psychiatrist, one who has been more receptive to what I experience on the medications he prescribes, and who is open to changing the med course when I feel a certain path isn't working.DWill wrote: Activists within the mental health movement are often themselves anti-DSM. They resent so much labeling. There is still quite a bit of suspicion about the true motives of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals.
In general, I find that psychiatrists are really only good for prescribing meds, and the trick then is to find one who will listen to patients' concerns and make changes accordingly. I've found that therapists are more helpful in the long run, because they have the time and patience to listen to your problems and work through them, regardless of the label you've been given. They keep it in mind, yes, but they don't use it as blinders and refuse to hear complaints that may have nothing to do with the diagnosis itself. Not everyone needs medication, so psychiatrists aren't always necessary, but if you do need meds it's good to find someone who will listen despite their hectic schedule and pet diagnoses and pre-formed treatment plans. Beware of a doctor having a "favorite" medication, because that may mean that they are going to find a way to get you to take it whether it would be helpful for you or not. I've gotten so savvy in the medical area because I research everything about my disorder and possible treatments, so I know everything about every drug they could possibly throw at me so that I know what I'm getting into. Otherwise, I'm at the mercy of people who only see me for less than 30 minutes every month or so, and they don't know anything about what I go through day to day. It's good to stay informed and to have a healthy relationship with a doctor, if possible. There are always others, so if one isn't working out don't be scared to find another.
Mental illnesses are not fun, no matter what the diagnosis or label, I can tell you that much. Being insightful only makes it worse, too, because I know all of my problems and where they come from but that doesn't make it any easier to fix them. But I digress, and no more whining.
That being said, I've read some of the proposed changes to the DSM. Most of them have nothing to do with me, but it does have the autism community in uproar because they're proposing to do away with Asberger's Syndrome as a diagnosis, listing it only under "autism spectrum disorders." Both people with Asperger's and people with more severe autism (and those who care for them) are angry about this, because it will lump them all into one category and could possibly hinder assistance to one group or another and will hinder newer research into autism because with Asberger's grouped with autism, the research will be skewed in one wrong direction or another. Change is always bound to hurt someone, I fear, and I'm curious to see what changes will be accepted and what will be kept the same.
