Please only answer if you actually relate (don't just answer no)-- has anyone heard of/had adjustment disorder

Question

I was sort of diagnosed awhile back with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and anxiety as the side things. If you know what adjustment disorder is you will know what i mean. I understand it can be acute or chronic.. but I never had it checked out anymore. but wehn I 1st went in with it im not sure how he determined it because i hardly told him anything and i was cutting-- hence me going in (to a psychiatrist who i don't see .. well i dont see anyone now) but im not sure if he just diagnosed me with something for insurance purposes, because he thinks i really had that... after 2 visits and a few phone calls with my mom. and i have yet to figure out what i was adjusting too. so has anyone had this, and can share with me some information or anyone know anythign about adjustment disorder besdies the brief things i find online? and please don't just answer no. thanks!

Answer 1

it's difficult to say how he came to his diagnosis without actually talking with him.

technically, an adjustment disorder is the development of emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an IDENTIFABLE STRESSOR. it begins within three months of the stressor and must have caused significant stress beyond which would normally be expected from exposure to that stressor OR significant impairment in social or school/job functioning.

also, the symptoms must go away within six months of the END of the stressor. acute adjustment disorder is when the stressor itself (the event causing the symptoms) lasts less than six months (i.e. a car accident) and chronic adjustment disorder is when the stressor lasts more than six months (i.e. a diagnosis of cancer which causes the symptoms and takes 9-12 months to treat).

so, by definition, adjustment disorder is time limited. this is helpful because it means you are not being labeled with a long-term or chronic illness. if you are concerned, however, that it is not the right diagnosis, it is extremely important that you talk to the psychiatrist about it:
-ask how he decided on the diagnosis
-correct any mistakes he might make when relaying to you his perceptions of the difficulties you are having.

in addition, if you want help, you really, truly need to be honest with him. he should be non-judgmental no matter what you tell him. i tell my patients that the only time i am going to be upset with them is when they aren't honest with me. i can deal with anything they have been doing and help them where they are if i know. i can't help at all if i don't know and can't meet them there.

he may have felt the need to talk to your mom because you hardly told him anything. even when you volunteer a lot of information, it is often helpful to get information from family when trying to make a diagnosis. There are times when people close to you notice things you may not.

in therapy, others' views are not really important because the goal is to help you via your perspective on life and events, so family members are less often involved.

on a different note:
i would like to ask that you take the comments made by "sprig" with a grain of salt. it sounds as though she has had a bad experience with psychiatrists in the past. This is quite unfortunate because a bad experience is often worse than no experience at all because it can make people hesitate the next time they want to reach out for help. Unfortunately, she has made a few statements that I feel are extreme and over-generalizations of a quite varied population of specialist doctors.

yes, there are bad psychiatrists. just like there are bad internists, bad mechanics, bad housekeepers, bad actors and bad hair stylists. yes, some docs are more interested in prescribing meds. NOT ALL. this is partially due to many clinics insisting on 15-minute med checks which do not leave a lot of time for supportive therapy. some docs are lucky enough to have freedom to set their own schedule and spend more time with patients.

And, according to sprig, most of us have the personality of toads. Again, I disagree. I know many of my colleagues who are extremely funny, interesting, attractive and socially skilled. In fact, my team (nurses, case managers, d/a specialists, vocational specialists), my patients, and my parents (blue collar workers) could vouch for me!

I agree that therapists (usually PhDs are the best but not always) are helpful for EVERYONE and should almost always accompany any psychiatric (MD) treatment if the MD does not provide both (quite a few do, actually).

Please keep an open mind, ask to see a therapist and ask to see a different psychiatrist if you don't feel comfortable with this one. Therapists and psychiatrists are like friends; you need to find someone with whom you "click". you need to feel safe and comfortable in order to have the best care.

Answer 2

I used to work in a hospital as a Registered Nurse on a psychiatric unit for many years. I worked mainly on the adult unit but I worked about 2 years on the adolescent unit. That was where I would frequently see patients diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood. I presume you may have been an adolescent when you were diagnosed because you said the doctor phoned your mom.

I agree with the med student that it is not unusual for a psychiatrist to be able to diagnose at person in 1 or 2 visits. Most of them are very sharp. The thing that these adolescents were having trouble adjusting to was adolescence itself. As you know,
a person goes through a lot of changes in those years and if a person has a few extra stresses during that time, the mind can get overwhelmed with all it has to deal with and symptoms in the persons behavior can result.

I suspect, since you're asking this question that you are having some kind of difficulty and are trying to figure it out. I don't know that, but something is prompting you to ask the question.

Do you cut yourself any more? Do you have any other symptoms that are troubling? If so, why not see the psychiatrist
that you saw before? Probably he can help you sort out what is going on.

I'm sorry to say that sprig doesn't know what she's talking about.
That is about the worst advice I've ever heard.

Answer 3

That sucks. Sounds like you got dragged in to see a psychiatrist. They're MD's, generally have social skills of toads, and are focused on categorizing symptom into labels, quickly I might add. Mostly, they just prescribe meds. Bet ya felt like he was more interested in talking to your mom than you, too.

Upfront, I don't have much knowledge of adjustment disorder. Sorry. But I can relate to being really pissed off and feeling jerked around by ******* that don't know me. I can tell ya a little bit about finding info, and about finding a therapist that might be able to help you. That stuff I know about.

On the knowledge quest, forget the label. Search on: cutting, depression, dissociation if you feel disconnected from other ppl, your body, or the world. You might also look up child abuse, dealing with divorse, or whatever life events apply to you. There might be something useful in some anorexia sites -- it's about finding ppl who have difficult feelings you relate to, not necessarily the specific symptoms. Look for the medical or university sites and follow links to legitimate articles. Don't freak about the extreme stuff and if it's not applicable, move on.

You might want to blow this off until you can do it all on your own, but find a psychologist -- not a psychiatrist -- who deals with teens and talks to you, not thru your parents. S/he should be someone who really listens and really hears what you say. S/he should respect you but be strong enough to not put up with your crap (I have lots of that and assume you do, too). S/he should also be someone that you think you can trust. All this is important, and it's more important that you want to figure out how to feel good about you, the real you, not someone other ppl want you to be.

Also, you might ask again here, but this time just ask: have you ever been a cutter and how'd you deal with it? You'll get jerks responding, but you might find someone that you relate to.

***
I stand corrected on the gross generalization of all psychiatrists. The bald reality is that my health care plans provided about 15 minutes with these guys. Many can size someone up quickly, some can't accurately. And if the circumstance is more complicated and they are not getting the real info, almost none can. Furthermore, if you are a teen and some authority figure does that, it's pretty condescending no matter how nice or correct the doc may be as a person. That is a big turn off and often shut down time. Experience that twice without knowing that there is another profession specifically trained to talk with ppl, you are apt to drop of the vary system that can help immensly. Besides, meds alone are rarely the answer.

So take what I have to say with a grain of salt or as a valid perspective. In any case, I suspect that by stepping on a couple egos, you did end up with more useful info than you would have otherwise. And for that, I make no apologies.

Answer 4

It does not suprise me that it only took your doctor 2 visits to diagnose you. Psychiatrist are very ensightful people and often times can diagnose with as little as one visit. Adjustment Disorder is almost self explanitory, it's when someone has an extremely difficult time adjusting to any sort of change. It can be as acute as not beign able to adjust to a new house or as chronic as not being able to change the channel on the television. Check out www.WebMD.com or www.MayoClinic.com and explore the information there.

Answer 5

Sometimes I say things in such a way that the person does not know they are actually being insulted. Yes I do wish people would not ask stupid questions about silly little things as if they actually thought about it and used some brain power, they might be able to work it out on their own. I tell it how it is, no need to sugar coat it, but it is done nicely. No need to swear, put people down etc.

Answer 6

my 14yr.old granddaughter was diagnosed with this. the family just moved to fla from ohio, where she was born. she had troubles in school, argued with everyone, and was really confused about a lot of things. he father came home drunk one night and tried to attack (beat her) but mom stopped him. mom left dad and come home to her mama with 3 teenage children.mom and dad did make up and he came to fla too. she wouldn't talk to anyone about her fears or feelings. glad to say all is well now and everyone has adjusted to their new home, but it took amost 3yrs. for the good things to come