Appointment coming up

I keep finding things that make it seem more and more likely that we really do have DID (or DDNOS). I’m currently at the point where I (or "I") go back and forth between considering it as a possibility and doubting it, but not beating myself up (at least not as much) for being a stupid fake. (We came to an agreement about not doing that anymore.) Some of my alters are sure we have it which is embarrassing because I keep thinking they’re going to turn out to be wrong.
We’ve got a psychiatrist appointment in less than a month, but we’re not optimistic. After fifteen years of people not being able or willing to help us, being dismissed, being misdiagnosed, etc, it’s hard to imagine it going well.
At least it’s more likely this one will dismiss us as fakes instead of misdiagnosing us with schizophrenia again.
And this time I have a friend who believes us and cares about us. I hope so anyway.

Baldanders wrote:Some of my alters are sure we have it which is embarrassing because I keep thinking they’re going to turn out to be wrong.

I know you were serious when you wrote this, but hopefully you will see the humor at some point about debating with dissociated identities whether or not you have dissociated identities. It's not as if there is a selection of conditions which have this as a criterion--this is only seen in DID/DDNOS. (I'm not diagnosing you, but you're saying you have alters and you refer to yourself as "us.")

Also, people who are actually faking an illness don't spend any time worrying about whether or not they are faking it!

Maybe it would help you with your appointment to write out a description of your symptoms, including what you know of your system, and also some of your history of misdiagnosis. You can take the DES online and bring along your score, too. Is the appointment specifically with someone who understands how to diagnose dissociative disorders? And what's the next step after you get a diagnosis?

TheGangsAllHere wrote:I know you were serious when you wrote this, but hopefully you will see the humor at some point about debating with dissociated identities whether or not you have dissociated identities. It's not as if there is a selection of conditions which have this as a criterion--this is only seen in DID/DDNOS. (I'm not diagnosing you, but you're saying you have alters and you refer to yourself as "us.")

Also, people who are actually faking an illness don't spend any time worrying about whether or not they are faking it!

Yeah, but maybe I don't really have alters and they're all just me and my imagination.

TheGangsAllHere wrote:Maybe it would help you with your appointment to write out a description of your symptoms, including what you know of your system, and also some of your history of misdiagnosis. You can take the DES online and bring along your score, too.

That's the idea. I keep trying, but keep getting freaked because I keep remembering how psychs generally respond in my experience.

TheGangsAllHere wrote:Is the appointment specifically with someone who understands how to diagnose dissociative disorders?

Considering how incompetent the last few people we've spoken to are, I don't have high hopes. (I sound a c u next tuesday, but seriously, the psychologist we saw last described an outdated view of DID and called it schizophrenia. That's just one example.)

TheGangsAllHere wrote:And what's the next step after you get a diagnosis?

Hopefully, being taken seriously, being able to take myself seriously, and figuring out how to treat us so that we can all work together smoothly and deal with our issues. That's assuming we can even get a diagnosis and that there is anyone in my city who knows what they're doing.