Today I was talking with a friend over lunch. I mentioned a strange tic I'm experiencing and that I thought it was a side effect of a medication I'm taking. She immediately responded, "Or you just are experiencing something new."
We have a history when it comes to diagnostic talk. She is very resistant to diagnoses. The reason is one part cultural (she comes from a country that does not rely on a capitalist medical system), and one part fear. That first bit? I listen to it. My kids and their friends are constantly self-diagnosing. They are never stressed. They have panic attacks. They are triggered. They have trauma they are surviving. That is the language they use. And, yes, for some of them this is true. But there is no setting lower than "triggered" or "panic."
In fact, they state they are anxious and depressed and need medication. Over-medicating is a very real thing. And medication should not always be the first recourse. There are many natural supplements, adaptations or exercises/actions that can be taken to offset stress AND mental illness.
However.
Diagnosis is a tool that can be used to determine what aid is needed. We can better select natural remedies when we have the clearest understanding what we are remedying. And being anti-diagnostic can shame folks who need a diagnosis in order to get medications they need.
In today's case, the statement was hurtful. I'm an adult and I can critically think about what my friend was saying. I'm dealing with Complex-PTSD. I need medical intervention as well as natural supplementation. Which means I need to be aware of how the medications I do take may be affecting me.
In this case, the medication I'm taking is known for causing tics that can be permanent. I need to stop taking it immediately for the best chance the tic I'm experiencing will go away. Of course, it may not be caused by the meds at all, but the only difference in my life over the last week has been this medication. It's unlikely the meds aren't the cause.
If I took my friend's statement to heart, I might stay on the meds and be at higher risk for permanent damage to my mind and body. Diagnosis is the tool that helps me not put myself at greater risk.
I will tell my friend this, but I needed some time to process. What I've come to is, in short, diagnosis can help and hurt.
What run-ins have you had with pro- or anti-diagnostic minded folks?