did it take long for a psychiatrist(s) to give you your proper diagnosis?

Question

i am referring to mental disorders like GAD, OCD, PPSD, schizophrenia, bi-polar, etc.



i have anxiety which i was diagnosed with 8 years ago. so far,

the psychiatrists still haven't been able to tell me exactly which

kind of anxiety disorder i have. i was told that i have character

traits from other anxiety disorders.



do you mind sharing your experience? thank you. :)

Answer 1

I started with mental health problems when I was 10 years old and it took till I was 19 years old to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder so yes it can take a long time to get a dx. the main reason is they do not like to dx children with an illness/label that will stay with them for the rest of there lives. good luck.

Answer 2

I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Recurrent and Dysthymic DIsorder. There's not much difference between the two; except Major Depression is more severe.

I told my psychiatrist once that I thought I might have ADD, and she said she didn't think so, but even if I did, she would keep me on the same medication (Paxil).

Sometimes having an exact diagnosis doesn't matter that much, as long as the medications work. That's especially true if the diagnoses are within the same basic type, such as Mood DIsorders, Anxiety Disorders or Psychotic Disorders.

I used to work for a mental hospital, and some people would have their diagnosis changed several times. The medication often was the same even though the diagnosis was different.

My brother was originally diagnosed with Major Depression, but it was later changed to Cyclothymic Disorder and then Bipolar II. The diagnosis change was a little more significant for him than it was for me, he was changed from Paxil to Lithium and actually is doing a lot better.

Answer 3

Well. My son was diagnosed with bipolar NOS, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Oppositionsal Defiant Disorder and Depression. He was 10 when he was first dx. We have struggled with this for quite some time. When he changes a doctor, they all have there own interpertation of what it is. They all agree on the Oppositional Defiant Disorder and depression, but we get variation of the others. We have bben told bipolar, rapid cycling bipolar & mood disorder nos. We are usually told they don't like labeling a child at such a young with a permant diagnosis. Even though when they go to prescribe him meds they always want to give him the one's for bipolar. We have had 5 different versions and we pretty much know even if they wont give us a clear answer. The doctor in our case just wants to be safer than sorry. This has been going on for over 3 years now.

Answer 4

Yes well my parents knew something wasn't right and same with my teachers. I did not see anything wrong. It started out with the School Counselor and then moved up to 8 Psychiatrists, 3 Psychologists and a Sociologist. Some were great some were not so great and I did not like them too much. Two psychiatrists and two Psychologists really made a difference without them i do not know where I would be today. My doctor and previous doctors say I have Schizophrenia. It has always been "She won't talk I do not know what is wrong." Sometimes they said they were just guessing then finally it was made official and even know I miss the excitement of it all and people trying to find out what is wrong I am happy it is done with and all over.

Answer 5

After I went to many doctors and after receiving 6 diagnoses I realized that they didn't know. I hate to think of people even receiving a diagnosis at all, because it always seems like once it is decided then the individual and complex personalities get over looked and then not properly nurtured to resolve the inner conflicts that are effecting each person. I don't believe in medication after being on almost every anti depressant and mood stabilizer they make, I found that they did not change anything for the better. Lets say you are one who finds these meds work you will only be masking the pain of the real events which are really hurting you, there for just prolonging the agony and pain. Everyone is different with variations in their experiences and shouldn't be labeled but supported to really uncover problem. It will take time and hard work but being open minded, honesty about yourself and removing all judgments of yourself is the way to recovery. You need to try everything how else will you know if you like it, everybody is too hard on themselves, but the more mistakes you make and allow yourself to be corrected the better you will be.

Mistakes will happen everyday to everyone how you handle being wrong is what shows your true character.

Answer 6

hello yoohoo-i was diagnosed pretty much as soon as the shrink saw me the first time. with generalized anxiety disorder and depression. its really bad for me cause it is always there,never goes away. and usually there is rarely one thing going on. alot of people with anxiety disorder have panic attacks-depression-obsessive compulsive disorder. social anxiety disorder is when someone is crazy anxious in social situations. sometimes people just have a few anxiety attacks in a week. how are they treating you for it. i have to take medication everyday to control the high level of anxiety i have plus my depression with antidepressants. its not something i want to do but something i have to do. i have been in therapy many times and it helped somewhat but the meds were for me the only thing that really helps. if your not getting an answer you can understand tell them to explain what they mean by their answer exactly. its your body and mind being affected. tell them you dont understand what they are telling you and make them spell it out. how are they treating you for you anxiety? meds-sedatives-just therapy? mine is biochemical to a great degree and not so much life stressors. but everyone is different and we all have to make our own choices. i respect those people who dont go on meds and im not pushing meds. they are far from a perfect solution. i cried when they first put me on antidepressants because i never took an aspirin before always wanted natural alternatives. its ironic how much i know about these drugs now. i live in manhattan and so many people take stuff and most are very open about it. i discuss it with people all the time. some people i know only have the occasional attack and can handle it with xanax.i hope for you its not as bad. take care

Answer 7

It took about 4-6 months. At first I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, then Schizo Affective Disorder. Finally they decided with Bipolar Disorder, and that was the same diagnoses with 4 other psychiatrists.

Answer 8

I was diagnosed as bipolar about a month ago and put on Lamictal.

It took about 7 months, 2 different anti-depressants, 2 wrong initial diagnoses ("possible" schizophrenia & borderline), multiple doctor appointments, a hospital trip, 2 initial psychiatrists and then I went to the psychiatrist I'm seeing now.

Answer 9

Psychiatry is a medical science and relies on observations and data. If you feel the psychiatrist is not properly diagnosing you, I would seek the counseling of another psychiatrist.

You should not be so concerned with the diagnosis, which is only a label to begin treatment. You should be interested in the prognosis and means of treatment.

Answer 10

I think it's difficult to pin down a mental disorder in a lot of cases. You can have a main diagnosis and then a secondary one. I have GAD and Panic Disorder is a secondary feature of it.

I think you can also have features of one at one point and then at another point, you can predominantly have features of another. Like, if you have GAD but have a panic attack at the mall, you could start feeling agoraphobic or even phobic of malls. Then you may seem more "phobic" to a psychiatrist that hasn't treated you for very long.

Also for me, I've noticed that it depends on what is going on in my life. Sometimes I feel fine, other times I feel jittery, then at other times, I go through a cycle of having panic attacks frequently.