Dangers of Self Diagnosis

I understand that some of us can take self diagnosis too far and that we should all really seek a professional opinion.
But for me, as a teen I spent a little time as an in patient then out patient in a adolescent psych ward 'program'. I was first prescribed Zoloft at 15. Nobody told me what the heck was wrong with me though! But I overheard something about anxiety. I also didnt know at the time, I was having daily anxiety attacks. I didnt even know what they were back then.
Ive been from doctor to doctor, no one can give me a straight answer.
So it took until a few months ago (at age 23) for me to seriously find what the heck was going on with me as I was having panic attacks daily again. I wanted to know EXACTLY the root cause of all this.
So I found social anxiety/phobia, I found that avoidance and panic attacks all fit into this as well and that it can also lead to agoraphobia. I went to my doctor and said.. this is what I think I have. He agreed. He put me back on Zoloft.
Sometimes, you have to do the research for the so called 'professionals'.
and there is no way Im going back to a psych!

BlueShift wrote:I think that avoidants are better in 'diagnosing' themselves than anyone else. We aren't open, and hiding our feelings from others. We're more likely to get misdiagnosed. Perhaps even intentionally, because many therapists WILL lose their patience with an avoidant at some point.
I've been seeing therapists for months, and they have no clue whatever group I belong to just because I can't express my feelings.

I agree, I stopped seeing my therapist for that reason, I wasn't getting anywhere not being able to open up enough to tell them what I feel.

MrBrightside wrote:http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv
At least take that test so you have an idea on how your personality may compose of several mild disorders or one, its all relative, just have that in mind.

I took the test because I thought it might be interesting.

My results :
Disorder | Rating
Paranoid: High
Schizoid: Moderate
Schizotypal: Moderate
Antisocial: Low
Borderline: Very High
Histrionic: Moderate
Narcissistic: Moderate
Avoidant: Very High
Dependent: Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive: Low

I took that test.

Paranoid: Very High
Schizoid: High
Schizotypal: High
Antisocial: High
Borderline: Moderate
Histrionic: Low
Narcissist: Moderate
Avoidant: Very High
Dependent: High
Obsessive-Compulsive: Low

Wow this is embarassing...

I took that test.

I got low or moderate for everything, but VERY HIGH for avoidant

Paranoid: Low
Schizoid: High
Schizotypal: Moderate
Antisocial: Low
Borderline: Moderate
Histrionic: Low
Narcissistic: Low
Avoidant: High
Dependent: Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive: Moderate

Though I'm not underestimating any of the dangers, How many avoidants can really manage to get an official diagnosis?

Not many because it's axis II. Insurance won't cover axis II so they don't bother with that. There is talk of making personality disorders axis I in the new edition of DSM. Maybe then it will get easier.

Parador wrote:There is talk of making personality disorders axis I in the new edition of DSM.

Where can we find those "talks"? I know that the DSM-V is in the making, and that I've got scraps of info from it (such as making Depressive PD an "official" PD instead of it being still included in "not otherwise specified", removing the label "schizoaffective" (since it's really the same as "schizophrenia + mood disorder" and is therefore redundant), etc.

But making personality disorders part of Axis I is new to me. Though from my view of things it might be a move to make PDs easier to get covered by insurances, because right now I can see clearly why they are not considered Axis I and probably really should not be. Axis I are for direct mental illnesses rather than things that lead to it like Axises II are. PDs being Axis II also allows all that room for diagnosis that you cannot really get with Axis I disorders.

Most of it is about the BPD. I guess since that one is most noticable. You can just google the subject. You can find shrinks advocating for it. DSM V comes out in 2012. It doesn't look like they will make that change though.



http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar04/axis.html

[url]rrtt.ucsd.edu/New_The-Case-for-Shifting-Borderline-Personality-Disorder-to-Axis-I_2008.pdf[/url]

Broken Harp wrote:Though I'm not underestimating any of the dangers, How many avoidants can really manage to get an official diagnosis?

It depends on the person giving the avoidant help. A psyche will tend to focus on the most distressing issues first, and then work on anything else that requires attention. Since AvPD is often synonymous with depression and anxiety, which are much more easily recognizable and treatable, those two are more likely to be diagnosed regardless of whether there is an underlying personality disorder. And, that assumes that the psyche makes a diagnosis. Some people - patient and professional - will find it beneficial/important to simply focus on the issues without going after a specific diagnosis.