Posted by Jumpy on February 26, 2003, at 11:14:10
In reply to Is diagnosis important ?, posted by White Stone on February 25, 2003, at 15:06:30
> I have definite symptoms from several different disorders; among them are post-traumatic stress syndrome, obsessive-compulsive, bipolar, and GAD. The GP doctor first tried attacking the depression (Effexor and Zoloft) and now has prescribed an antipsychotic (Zyprexa) for the possible bipolar. He hasn't really given me a diagnosis past depression and anxiety. He seems to be trying to arrive at a more conclusive diagnosis based on how the medications effect my symptoms. Is this normal? Is a diagnosis important? Wouldn't it be more helpful to me to have a diagnosis so I could learn everything I could about what he suspects is wrong with me?
>
> Any comments would be appreciated.I read a psychiatrist's impression of diagnostic caterogies in mental illness. He said that most people suffered from a spectrum type illness ... some depression, some anxiety, some OCD, some mood swings, etc. He said pure diseases as classified by the DSM-IV were pretty rare ... that is, it is rare for an individual to just have pure depression and nothing else. So most individuals may need a combination of medications to treat all the various elements of there illness ... so some antidepressant with alittle benzo and alittle mood stablizer is not uncommon.
He had this great analogy. He said when someone has the flu, we don't diagnose them with "runny nose disease" or "cough disease" or "sore throat disease". We say they have an "upper respiratory tract" syndrome (the flu) and treat them with some antibiotics, some cough syrup, some decongesant, etc.
Hope that made sense.
Jumpy
poster:Jumpy
thread:203746
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030224/msgs/204000.html