Individuals with Mental Health Conditions
If you have a mental health condition, you're not alone. One in 5 American adults experience some form of mental illness in any given year. And across the population, 1 in every 20 adults are living with serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or long-term recurring major depression.
As with other serious illnesses, mental illness is not your fault or that of the people around you, but widespread misunderstandings about mental illness remain. Many people do not seek treatment or remain unaware that their symptoms could be connected to a mental health condition. People may expect a person with serious mental illness to look visibly different from others, and they may tell someone who does not “look ill” to “get over it” through willpower. These misperceptions add to the challenges of living with a mental health condition.
Every year, people overcome the challenges of mental illness to do the things they enjoy. Through developing and following a treatment plan, you can dramatically reduce many of your symptoms. People with mental health conditions can and do pursue higher education, succeed in their careers, make friends, and have relationships. Mental illness can slow us down, but we do not need to let it stop us.
Unlike diabetes or cancer there is no medical test that can provide a diagnosis of mental illness, but getting a diagnosis is a useful step in receiving effective treatment and improving your quality of life.
Understanding Your Diagnosis
Some people with mental health conditions experience relief and hope when they get a diagnosis. Others may feel like a diagnosis is “just words.”
You may even feel several competing emotions at the same time—relief at having a name for the things bothering you, but fear and anger that you have an illness. You may feel that the diagnosis you received carries negative or damaging perceptions and may not want to accept it, but getting a diagnosis is a useful step in receiving effective treatment and improving your quality of life.
Getting a Diagnosis
A health care professional can do many things in an evaluation including a physical exam and long-term monitoring to rule out underlying medical conditions that may be causing symptoms.
Once other medical conditions are ruled out, a person might be referred to a mental health professional that will use The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), to make a diagnosis. The DSM-5, published by the American Psychiatric Association, lists criteria including feelings, symptoms, and behaviors over a period that a person must meet to be officially diagnosed with an illness.
Why a Diagnosis Matters
A medical professional determines a diagnosis by interviewing you about your history of symptoms. Sometimes a doctor will require a couple of medical tests to rule out possible physical ailments, but we cannot evaluate mental health itself through blood tests or other biometric data. Instead, doctors use their experience to determine how your set of symptoms fit into what we know about mental health.
The diagnosis is a valuable tool for you and your doctor. Doctors and therapists use a diagnosis to advise you on treatment options and future health risks.
Another reason a diagnosis matters is that it tells health insurance companies that you have a condition requiring medical care. A doctor’s diagnosis is also necessary to qualify for Social Security Disability support or for job protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Even though labeling your symptoms does not automatically relieve them, congratulate yourself on having moved forward in the process of getting treatment and protecting your rights.
What Next?
You may already have learned as much as possible about mental illness, or you may be facing the topic for the first time. In either case, a diagnosis is a good starting point for learning more.
When your doctor talks about your condition, take notes so you can look up your diagnosis later. Ask your doctor to recommend books and websites with additional information. When you read about your condition, you may find your symptoms match in some ways and do not match in others. This is normal.
Focus on learning about symptoms and treatments. You may come across discouraging predictions about how it is impossible to “cure” serious mental illness. However, with treatment you can reduce or eliminate your symptoms. A diagnosis is a gateway to effective treatment, not a sentence to lifetime imprisonment.
If you have not already found a support group, this is a good time to reach out to others with your condition. NAMI’s Peer-to-Peer classes and NAMI Connection Recovery Support Groups can provide encouragement and advice from people who are living well with mental illnesses. Click here to find a program near you.
What if You Disagree with Your Diagnosis?
After reading about your condition, you may have questions for your doctor. How do your symptoms match this diagnosis rather than another? Couldn’t it be something else? What if it is a physical illness instead or a misunderstanding?
It is important to feel that your doctor considered all the possibilities. If you disagree with your doctor’s evaluation, however, do not automatically quit working with them. Your doctor is already familiar with your symptoms, and the diagnosis is simply a tool to help you and your doctor address those symptoms. If possible, it’s worth it to stick with a doctor who already knows you.
Ask yourself if you can work with this doctor, not if you believe in this diagnosis. When you discuss your concerns, does your doctor listen to you? Try to answer your questions? Does your doctor show sympathy? Understand your goals? What treatment does the doctor recommend for helping you meet those goals?
Consider whether you can “agree to disagree” about the exact diagnosis, while agreeing to try out the doctor’s recommendations for a certain period of time.
Reevaluating a Diagnosis
A diagnosis is only as good as the treatment it leads to. Whether or not you feel confident in your diagnosis, it is important to reevaluate occasionally.
After pursuing treatment for a time, you and your doctor should meet to discuss your progress. Consider how treatment is helping your condition, or if it does not seem to be helping. If treatment is not sufficient, other options for treatment can be considered or changing your diagnosis.
A mental health professional makes the best diagnosis possible with the information they have. Over time, as you work together, they will observe you, listen to you, and gather new information to help refine your diagnosis. Your diagnosis is the beginning of an investigation into how to make your life better.
NAMI peer-led programs provide invaluable resources and information where you get to hear from individuals who have been there and can provide you with much needed support.
