My View

We want to give ourselves an identity.  We want to understand why we act, think and feel the way we do.  We want to explain ourselves to others.

The “go to” is to give ourselves a label so we can say, “I am this.”   However, does the label fit?

Pros of Psychiatric Labels

Access to treatment:

A diagnosis can help access appropriate therapy, medication, and support services tailored to a specific condition. 

Understanding and validation:

A label can provide understanding and validation of personal experiences helping individuals feel less alone. 

Communication with healthcare providers:

Clear diagnostic terms facilitate communication between patients and mental health professionals leading to better treatment planning. 

Cons of Psychiatric Labels

Stigma and social discrimination:

Labels can perpetuate negative stereotypes about mental illness leading to social stigma and discrimination against individuals with a diagnosis. 

Oversimplification of complex experiences:

A single label may not fully capture the nuances and complexity of an individual's mental health struggles. 

Self-fulfilling prophecy:

Internalizing a label can lead individuals to believe they are defined by their diagnosis potentially hindering recovery efforts. 

Misdiagnosis and labeling bias:

Diagnostic criteria can be subjective, leading to potential misdiagnosis and biased interpretations of symptoms. 

Concepts to Remember

Individualized approach:

While labels can be helpful, it's crucial to consider each person's unique experiences and needs when discussing diagnosis and treatment. 

Open communication:

Open communication between individuals and healthcare providers is vital to address concerns about labeling and ensure appropriate treatment plans. 

Focus on recovery:

Emphasize the potential for recovery and positive self-management strategies, not just the diagnostic label. 

What To Do:

A complete Psychosocial History and Psychological Testing by a clinical psychologist is the best way to determine diagnosis.  Unfortunately, most insurance stopped paying for psychological testing years ago unless it is neuropsychological testing for cognitive issues, prior authorized and physician referred.  

Some plans cover psychological testing but it may be limited or require prior authorization.  Asking your doctor to refer you to a clinical psychologist for psychological testing may be possible for insurance reimbursement. 

Educational testing for a child can be requested by a parent and generally the school system must comply with that request.  There may be resistance and delays.  However, there are organizations and laws to assist with parental request for testing.  Start with going to the website of Learning Disabilities Association of America at https://ldaamerica.org/advocacy/lda-position-papers/right-to-an-evaluation-of-a-child-for-special-education-services/

Please do not settle for short question assessments to determine a definitive diagnosis.

Education, Education, Education!

Psychoeducation is a critical part of any therapeutic and recovery process. 

Psychoeducation is education about psychiatric, psychological and social functioning. 

Psychoeducation is providing clear and credible information to clients and families about mental health conditions in order to improve understanding, support and treatment. 

It can also encourage and motivate the client to become involved in the educational process of learning about their psychological and social experiences. 

Psychoeducation is a structured learning therapy that helps people understand their mental health, the challenges they may face and how to cope with them.

What Is It?

Psychoeducation is a step by step way to teach people about their mental health condition, its treatment and how to manage it.  

What Does It Do?

Psychoeducation can help people, and their families improve their quality of life and well-being.  The more you know, the better the levels of functioning and recovery.  It can help people become directly involved in their treatment and make it more effective. 

What Does It Involve?

Psychoeducation will hopefully help the client and their family members to better understand the specifics of a mental, emotional condition and how to best negotiate positive functioning and outcomes.  It also involves teaching people skills like relaxation techniques, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, communication and emotional regulation. 

When Is It Used?

Psychoeducation is an important part of treatment for most mental illnesses and positive mental health development.  Clients of all levels of development and functioning can benefit by having a better understanding of their health status and learning skills and techniques for regulation.

Benefits

• Empowers people
• Prevents misinformation
• Improves awareness

Psychoeducation can help people understand how their condition affects their daily lives.  The goal is to help people understand their condition and improve their quality of life. 

The word Psychoeducation has been part of the mental health language for decades, but it is sometimes not recognized by search engines or familiar to the general public.  It is simply education about a mental health illness or condition.

What To Do:

Ask your therapist for as much credible information as possible about a diagnosis or condition.

Keep searching credible resources by credible organizations and clinicians.  Social media is not necessarily going to be the most credible resource.

Look for key terms such as Evidence Based and check licensure and credentials of the people that are writing or providing videos on illnesses, conditions and disorders.

Remember the words Credible, Evidence Based, Reliable and Valid.

The more that you read the more things that you'll know.  The more that you learn the more places you'll go. 

—Dr Seuss

Keep It Simple!

"Keep it simple" is phrase that means to make something easy to understand or do.  It is not necessary or beneficial to practice or explain mental health in complex or highly intellectual, academic terminology. 

We can learn to describe and explain even complex mental health and mental illness conditions in words and language that is understandable and practical.  

Teaching a fifth-grade classroom of twenty-nine boys and seven girls about fractions was one of those life changing experiences for me.  I had taken a teaching position for a teacher who was on pregnancy leave.  The children were learning about fractions.  However, there was not a child in the classroom that understood how to use fractions.  

We created games, stories, plays and whatever creative learning experience that would bring fractions to life.  The administration was concerned about the time being spent on fractions and pushed for me to move through the curriculum at a more rapid rate.  But I was not going to stop until each child was able to grasp the concept of fractions and be able to apply their new knowledge in a practical way to their personal life.  We did it in record time.

It was not always easy to design ways to present a concept to thirty-six young minds because of the individual learning styles. Some children were auditory learners, some visual, some auditory and visual, some needed tactile, hands-on experiences, so, we played fractions until every child was able to “get it” according to their own style.

This experience has been carried forward in my practice to help educate clients of all ages and learning styles toward finding their optimal mental health and negotiating mental complications, often called disorders or illness, as they arise.  Learn to share the information in a way that is practical and applicable for each individual.

Helping clients become educated about their very own health is an absolute necessity for achieving their own personal optimal level of health.  It is also absolutely necessary for the healthcare provider to continually engage in research and educational training. 

What To Do:

Clients

Ask Questions.

Ask for information to be explained in a manner that is easy to understand.  

Do not walk away more confused than when you went into the session.  

Get a second opinion if needed.

Clinicians

Take the time to help your client understand what you are saying.  

Ask for feedback to determine understanding.

Simply ask if what you are saying is making sense.

Practice Patience.

Without questions, there is no learning.

—W. Edwards Deming

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

—Benjamin Franklin

Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.

—Woody Guthrie