Understanding a diagnosis is just as important if not more important than getting one. Doctors are human and therefore are subject to all the errors that humans are. We are subjective beings even when we are trying to be objective. The perceptual differences, limitations in assessment, and even our own inability to describe and to share our own felt experience can often lead to misdiagnosis.
I personally (and thus professionally) do not adhere strictly to the medical model for counseling mental health concerned clients. I believe the diagnostic process to to have more communication amoung professionals and administrative purpose than it does to the utility of treatment or the client’s individual experience. There are benefits, don’t get me wrong. Continuity of care and the diagnositc side effect of being normalized and grouped amoung two of them.
Regardless of my opinions about – the system is here to stay, so you might as well make it work for you. Here are some things that you can do to approach a diagnosis (diagnosis of depression and anxiety).
Ask your doctor questions. Set up an appointment to talk with your doctor about what hyperventilation syndrome (it sounds more like a hypersensitivity to me). Prepare a list of questions to take in with you so that you do not neglect any that you develop. What is this syndrome? How does this syndrome come about? What are suggested treatments? Are there alternative treatments I should consider? What is a prognosis and duration? etc. There really aren’t any wrong questions to ask when it comes to your health. If the doctor appears put off or ill at ease with the questions – get a new one.
Accept the situationality. Much like when you take a standardized intelligence test or an exam at school – diagnosis is a poor representation of you. It is not you. It may describe you and your experience to some degree to a certain point of time. Just like the test does not measure your intelligence, it measures your intelligence at that moment in time for that set of questions. Many factors impact performance as do many factors influence a clinicians assessment of your self-reporting behavior. A diagnosis of depression from years ago may no longer be a valid descriptor or diagnosis to be treated if no longer present.
Accept ambiguity. All constructs fall on a continuum between two ideals with variations in between. Black and White thinking in a grey world. For example there is ‘Well‘ on one end of a continuum and ‘Ill’ on the other. In between are inumerable variations – a couple of such being injured, impaired. Expect for there to be movement and change in standing on the continuum. No position is secure. There is a risk that you may get worse and there is always a hope that it will be better. I say stay in the hope.
What is it there for? Depression, anxiety, even hyperventilation are all processes of your organism. They function as a result of the evolution of all your ancestors. A long line of survivors. You are, as are most people with rare exception, functioning as you should. So ask yourself why am I anxious? Why am I depressed? Why am I sad? Why am I angry?
Your subconscious brain takes in a massive amount of data. It is always assessing for what is wrong. It is negatively wired, this brain of ours. It has one sole job and that is to keep our body alive. So brains that were really good at this could predict dangers in order to prevent or resolve them. Anxiety is the function in which the subconscious sends through the pyhsical sensations in our body to signal and get our conscious attention (pain tends to do that well) in order for us to activate change.
What are you anxious about? What are you to do about it? The same goes with most negative felt emotions. Sadness – signifies loss – compensate. Anger – signifies perceived wrong – correct injustice. Depression – signifies defeat – retreat, rest, reorganize.
Build distress tolerance. There is bound to be pain. There is bound to be distress. It can not be irradiated. Change itself even when resulting in positive outcomes requires a good deal of pain. Develop a tolerance for distress. Self-sooth, adjust perspectives, adopt an allowing attitude, discipline your conscious to doing.
