Why I Find It Helpful To Drop The Diagnoses And Just Focus On ME
I'm not really one for labels and I don't always feel the need to confirm diagnoses. Don't get me wrong, I think it's something you should do, and there are certainly benefits to that. The main one being better understanding the way your mind and body work; but also receiving the most effective treatment, being prescribed the right medications, getting the most helpful accommodations, etc. But with mental illness, there is so much variance in personal experience that sometimes I feel labels and diagnoses become a little too "boxy." And by that I mean it's easy to stereotype and think, "Oh, she has anxiety so that means she feels like this, can't handle those, and would want to avoid that." And that's if someone has a general understanding of that particular condition. Because you might also get a lot of incorrect stereotypes and assumptions. "Oh, he has OCD? So, he's just a clean freak." No. OCD is wildly misunderstood and ...
