Check in: Time to diagnosis?

MakersDozn wrote:Self-diagnosed, Summer 1996, body-age 34, after over 20 years of seeing various MH "professionals" on and off.

When did someone "qualified" to diagnose first confirm your DID? I ask only because that is the benchmark used in the literature.

-- Wed Feb 01, 2017 4:59 pm --

BeccaBee wrote:first voluntary seeking of help with "inexplicable occurances" was 2000.

BeccaBee wrote:2015 self awareness - competent clinician, correct Dx.

So: 2000, 15 years

Appropriate Dx and Tx is a life changer indeed! I wish I had tried harder to get help. I did seek help briefly in 1985 but did not get as far as consulting any mental health professional. I worked my way through a self help book that helped considerably but left a lot untouched.

4Rene, sounds like for you first contact with MH was in 1985 (or before?) and Dx DID was in 2010. Is that right? 1985, 15 years?

-- Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:10 pm --

perpetuo27 wrote:I first got help at 13

Perpetuo27, what year was that? You mention formal Dx took 14 years, so when you first got help was not later than 2002.

Una+ wrote:

MakersDozn wrote:Self-diagnosed, Summer 1996, body-age 34, after over 20 years of seeing various MH "professionals" on and off.

When did someone "qualified" to diagnose first confirm your DID? I ask only because that is the benchmark used in the literature.

We hear you. It appears we're talking about two different things here. We believe that a formal diagnosis, while desirable by many, is not as necessary to effective treatment as an open-minded therapist who is willing to help us meet our needs in the most effective manner. When we found our previous therapist in 1998, we had no need for or interest in going through formal procedures for her to verify what we already knew.

All of this being said, that therapist put 300.14 on our insurance records from the start. So by your definition, the time between our very first interaction with a therapist, circa 1974, until the start of our work with the 1998 therapist, would be 24 years.

Our current therapist, who we began seeing in mid 2004 after our 1998 therapist retired, has always put only MDD and GAD on our insurance records.

1. In our state, by law, a diagnosis of MDD guarantees the right to unlimited mental-health sessions if needed.
2. Insurance companies today are frequently telling therapists what treatment methods they think a provider should use, and our current T will not allow bureaucratic "recommendations" to supersede her best judgment or the client's needs and wishes.
3. Our current T shares our opinion that a formal dx is not always needed for effective treatment.

MDs

No argument there, MD!

What I am doing here is gathering data to answer the research question "Is the average `time to diagnosis' still 7 years?" For you I have 1974 and 24 years, thanks!

Took me exactly 7 years.
Aside from the private therapist who diagnosed me within a few sessions when I was somewhere between 13 and 16 years old. But I can't confirm that memory. When I was 19 I entered therapy again and then it took me 7 years to get diagnosed.

TheCollective wrote:Took me exactly 7 years.

Starting what year?

Una+ wrote:

perpetuo27 wrote:I first got help at 13

Perpetuo27, what year was that? You mention formal Dx took 14 years, so when you first got help was not later than 2002.

it was 1996 when i first started seeking help. it was late 2002/early 2003 when i was diagnosed with a dissociative disorder and unofficially diagnosed with DID (only because i didn't talk about things more/things were okay for several years in between) and then 2016 was when i was officially diagnosed with DID.

Thanks, perpetuo27, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

All: for the record, psychforums.com staff have OK'd this survey. I invite everyone here to chime in. This is not about who has the longest journey or the shortest journey. This is a community survey. The more participation, the better! So far we have 10 participants, we could easily manage 100, and I would really like 1000. Keep it coming.

Una+ wrote:

TheCollective wrote:Took me exactly 7 years.

Starting what year?

2007

First contact with MH professionals: year 2000 (me being 15 yo.)
Diagnosed: year 2015

Took 15 years (though they in the year 2000 wrote down that I had "identity disorder traits.")

I live in Finland.