The Life of a Guilt Stricken Mental Health Counselor

The other day one of my patients at the hospital compared been given a mental health diagnosis to developing a criminal record - it follows you forever.

Do I agree with this? WELL YES, I do. I believe mental illness is real, has physiological effects, and requires appropriate treatment. But it doesn't change the fact that I  am incredibly careful to choose the appropriate condition so as to not mislabel the problem.

Unfortunately because of health insurance, each patient who is admitted to the behavioral health center MUST be given a mental health diagnosis of some sort. So naturally when I open a patient's file and see "OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, psychosis NOS, and hoarding disorder," I'm like "yup, just another day at work."

.....But then I'm there, ready to break the computer.

Ok, so that was definitely an exaggeration. I've never seen anyone with that many diagnoses. Don't get me wrong, the majority of these particular patients have serious mental health issues which are rightfully identified, yet I take diagnosis quite seriously. Many patients of mine have expressed frustration regarding how one professional will say they have one condition, and another will diagnose something entirely different. Once again, many people have distinct mental illnesses which demands appropriate treatment. However, mislabeling mental illness can have a multitude of negative effects on the individual, including self fulfilling prophecies!

So in light of all this negativity I've been experiencing, I think it's important to keep in mind why diagnoses are useful and important, despite some of their negative implications.

1) Communication between professionals: A mental health diagnosis is a very short way of explaining a wide variety of symptoms experienced. For this reason, diagnoses are extremely useful when one professional is consulting with a new professional working with the individual. Diagnoses provide a short and sweet way of providing a greater understanding of the client.

2) Ease of access to treatment interventions: Mental health diagnoses often allow individuals to receive a variety of potential treatment strategies though insurance at a discounted price or even free of charge! MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS.

3) Externalizing the issue: Diagnoses also serve as a therapeutic technique in externalizing an individuals struggles. An example would be saying "It's not me, its the bipolar disorder." So often people experiencing mental health issues internalize their condition and may somehow think they are incomplete or screwed up. Diagnosis is useful way to externalize the problem and allow the client to take control over their condition through treatment.

So there you have it! Diagnoses aren't all that bad! I'll agree, it isn't perfect...but for now all I can do is be sure to continue taking diagnoses seriously and keep my clients' best interests in mind.