How you ever been told “you can only see this physician if you are diagnosed with _____,” or you don’t qualify for this medication because you have not been officially diagnosed with ____.” It can be frustrating at times and some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.
What is the value of being officially diagnosed with a medical condition? We are taught there is the value of a physician knowing where and what to focus on. We all know of persons who were suffering from conditions with which no relief was in sight until they received an official diagnosis. So we could say there is an upside to being properly diagnosed and then properly treated.
The downside is knowing or learning that you are officially "infirmed" can be a crushing blow to the psyche.
I have thought about that point quite a bit. It could or could not be a death sentence. It may be something that going to culminate in senility or even full-blown Alzheimer’s. This brings up one of the main concerns, which is, the most devastating diagnoses are those concerned with psychological, neurological and/or psychiatric sickness. So why is that knowledge so hard to take?
We grow up with certain notions of what conditions like "dementia, manic depression, bipolar, ADD, and things like these" mean. We think "I'm glad that doesn't apply to me". Then, all of a sudden, we are told it does apply. Our self image could take a hit.
There is a biblical quote from a wise man who once said “in all that you acquire, acquire understanding.” I can understand that and which is why I agree with the saying that knowledge is power. We can't change our lives for the better unless we understand what needs changing. Therefore, it is necessary to get beyond the shock of a diagnosis and move into understanding what it means, in terms of how we act, live and get along.
For some other people, it does not work that way because they become engulfed or polarized by preconceived notions and fear about "having a diagnosis."
There is another danger of mental-related diagnoses, and for that matter any kind of diagnosis. That is with your medical record. What if you receive a psychiatric diagnosis and it's entered into your "official" record because you had the testing done by a professional who's paid by a health insurer? It's possible that you could be rated unfavorably for insurance, or even denied life insurance and some health insurances.
So it is to your advantage to have your own testing done especially when there might be an issue of insurability. I would have some concerns about having any diagnostic information in my medical record because the evidence indicates insurers sometimes try and use those records for their own advantage.
The issue of "downsides to the diagnosis" cannot be neatly put into one or two pages of an internet health article. Just be extremely cautious when putting oneself in a situation where an official diagnosis is made.
The earlier in life one makes the decision to take the responsibility for his own health the better off he would fare. Taking responsibility of your own health also means taking charge. This can done by taking in the available knowledge medicine and health in general, and your body, mind, soul in particular, as well as all the other components including intakes and outputs and gives us understanding about our health.
http://www.examiner.com/x-3157-LA-Mens-Health-Examiner~y2009m2d8-The-Issue-of-an-Official-Diagnosisby Earnest Alford, LA Men's Health Examiner
