Posted by pegasus on March 7, 2004, at 15:57:48
In reply to ???s about Borderline dx, posted by Racer on March 7, 2004, at 13:10:24
I think diagnoses are so tricky, because they can be helpful, as Dinah described, but also very destructive, as in the way your old pdoc used them. The way I understand it, the most compelling reasons for using diagnoses are to communicate with other clinicians - especially for the purposes of research. For example, if someone is going to study the effects of some drug on depression, there has to be an agreement about what constitutes depression.
But I think we also get hung up on diagnoses, because we're so used to medical diagnoses. Medical disorders are a very imperfect analogy for mental disorders. Because different people can arrive at similar mental symptoms through such different pathways (life experiences, biological issues, etc.). And the diagnosis of mental disorders is completely dependent on the presence of certain symptoms. I mean, the diagnoses are defined by the symptoms. Which isn't the case for physical illnesses. A doctor can misdiagnose you even if they understand all of your phyisical symptoms. Because there is usually a real physical "right answer" about the cause.
But for mental disorders, the symptoms define the disorder, whatever the cause. Which a lot of people think means that the diagnoses are kind of arbitrary or meaningless.
I've been taught not to use diagnoses unless I have to (for insurance purposes, say). But on the other hand, sometimes different people have a lot in common in terms of their mental experiences, and it seems useful to me to consider what we can learn from one person that extends to another.
Sorry for the rambling, but that's my 2 cents.
- p
poster:pegasus
thread:321635
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040303/msgs/321683.html