Its important to remember, first and foremost, you are not your diagnosis of mental illness. These are only symptoms of the types of problems your currently having – they do not define you in terms of who or what you are as a human being.
No matter how “sick” or “diseased” the doctors or psychiatrists claim you are, never, under any circumstances let them rob you of hope!
Hope that you can one day get better, improve your circumstances, overcome your difficulties in life and re-integrate back withing your community as an active and productive member of society.
You can and will recover from mental illness. Its just a matter of self determination, will, effort on your apart and patience!
I know this for a fact because others have done it before you and went on to live active, self fulfilling and meaningful lives. Even in those cases where doctors said such a thing would never be possible under any circumstances.
In psychiatry they are always going to label you! Its the nature of the game they play. Your always going to be diagnosed with a mental illness of some kind. Your always going to be stereotyped, marginalized, generalized and stigmatized in the process.
Depending upon who you see, your diagnosis will often vary radically. As such it is a very arbitrary and unscientific in its application.
They will then treat you in terms of symptoms without in many cases ever trying to address your underlying problems.
What they won’t ever tell you is that its “normal” to be depressed sometimes, or be anxious in stressful situations or circumstances to grieve a loss of someone you love, because to do so would be to admit to you and themselves that you don’t need them! Instead what they will likely tell you is that you have a mental illness or disease, which is caused by a chemical imbalance in your brain. That this disease or illness so called is genetic, although they will be unable to point to a specific gene or genetic marker responsible? What I am saying is don’t believe them!
In some cases, your symptoms may very well have a medical cause, such as hyperthyroidism or brain injury for example. So it is critically important you get a medical assessment done first before you submit yourself to psychiatric care and treatment. Otherwise you could be doing yourself more harm than good. Because the way they will seek to treat you in 99% of the cases are by prescribing you “medication” and I am using that term very loosely!
These medications are in a class of drugs called anti psychotics. These types of drugs are either psychologically or physically addictive over time or both! The doctors won’t often tell you that going in.
Remember also the system is very much about control and it is through these mind numbing drugs they will seek to manipulate, coerce and control you to conform to their idea of what “normal” is.
These psychiatrists are also prescribing drugs, they have never taken themselves and have no real idea how they are going to affect you in terms of side effects. Its one thing to read about side effects, quite another to actually experience them yourself. You also have to be your own best advocate and if you experience severe side effects, such as mood changes, aggressiveness and odd behavior you have to tell them so they can get you off that crap.
Remember you are the expert in terms of your mental illness not the doctors. Although they will often argue and brow beat you over that.
You are the expert in terms of your own recovery whatever that might look like. You define success in terms of recovery in your life – not them!
Lastly your best treatment for mental illness is often a combination of medication and treatment. Not a one size fits all approach, don’t let them pigeon hole you into one or another type of treatment. Take advantage of what you think will benefit you and improve your condition and station in life.