still_me

How are we suppose to change or get help or better if everyone dr you meet labels you something else? How many damn labels can one person have??????????? Can a person be bi-polar, Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, Anxiety??????????????????? what the hell?

Afraid2Succeed

A label doesn't define you. You are a person with ________ and ________ and ______.

30 years ago, we didn't have disorders like ADD or PTSD, yet millions of people have it today. That doesn't mean it didn't exist, it just means we have found a 'label' for it. What qualities you possess are not unique and I'm sure countless others have it too. Unfortunately, certain labels have stigmas and negative connotations, so disclosing your 'labels' is difficult sometimes.

I assure you, when it's all said and done, you are just like everyone else - a human being. Don't let labels define who you are. Use the labels to your advantage, to help you cope with your personal qualities. It's an advantage to know yourself better, and don't beat yourself up for understanding who you are.

shutterbug

Great response A2S!!

yes...you can be all of the above...tho the problem with many of the diagnsis (labels) is they tend to "look" very similar to one another....so even the best of docs can misdiagnose from time to time.

What to do? Take the labels (diagnoses') they've given and learn about each one....many will relate to each other so it's not like really having to learn about a ton of totally differen things. THEN, you become an educated guessor along with the docs you trust the most and work toward keeping yourself well using those as an OUTLINE to go by.

That's my tired 2-cents for tonight. lol ;P

(((welcome to SR and the mental health forum....both of you!)))

hugs,
Jenna

Done_With_It

I was taught to not label myself, because I was so stuck on that, I started w/an eating disorder and we were big on, Are you A or B..... It was sick for us, and we defined ourselves as being an anorexic and didn't know who we were if they took that away from us, so in treatment they were like, you are not a label, lol, That was a such a big deal for us. When I was 'diagnosed' with bipolar, Add, depression ,etc.
I sometimes say, Yea I have biploar, I have ADD but I am not ADD, I am not bipolar. Those are just descriptions to me of something that goes on in my head, but I don't see them as a label. It's more of a way for one doctor to communicate to another really, that's how I see it, lol, because of that I also don't and will never call myself an addict. I was addicted to meth, I know longer am. But I am very prone to it just like I am cutting, or my e.d. I know myself well enough to know who I am.
I don't need to worry about labels. It's just something for me to go off of.

A person can have a lot of those things, when they finally figured what was wrong with me was during a suicide attempt, (but one I went to people first for), I was such a mess they thought I was on drugs, but I wasn't. They said I was having severe ptsd issues, and I was like WHAT!!! WTF?! I'VE NEVER EVEN BEEN TO WAR!!
I WAS SO MAD! i didn't know it was a regular thing you could get w/out war, then they said you depression and bipolar, something else small but I forgot.
All I cared about was getting better. If they help you, try not to worry about the labels, if it's not working keep letting them know..

You've gotten two great posts already, they both had really good stuff to say.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I'm exhausted but my brain is still wide awake...