Giving it a label - helpful or not?
I've been dealing with various pieces of problems for the last 6 years and it's been like putting together a slow jigsaw puzzle. Something I thought was a core problem turned out only to be a cog in a bigger system, and slowly through about 3 years of counsellors these issues have aligned themselves into what might potentially be something with a label.
I'll hold my hands up - I'm victim to stigma. I don't like the idea of labels not just because there's so much within a label that can vary from person to person, but because a lot of people don't understand that and the label attaches to assumptions. The idea of excusing anything I do with a diagnosis label sounds like a cop out and I doubt I'd even want to admit what I have to anyone. But, I'm pretty private by nature.
I get that the label isn't supposed to be for everyone else, it's supposed to be for me. But to me it feels like playing into it. After a recent assessment with someone new, they suggested to me that I was showing signs of anxiety and recommended me a support group that, when I got the info, turned out to be support for Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
Now I know I have an overthinking problem and a couple of pretty strong phobias, but I never really thought it equated to some kind of disorder. I guess it caught me off guard that it seemed that severe to them, but maybe I'm complacent with my brand of thinking. They haven't explicitly diagnosed me but now I'm wondering... if they try to, should I resist it?
Has having it labelled helped? I know there's the argument that it helps target what support you should look for but it's still individualised, surely? I guess it might be up to me but I just wondered what others' perspectives on the notion of being diagnosed was for them. I'm not keen on the idea, but that might be my engrained stigma at play. Did it help? Was it welcome, or not?
@Screen77
I have never found labels helpful ...... like you said a diagnosis is for you not everyone else .......
labels also like you said are often misused and misunderstood.... many make assumptions based on a label.... get the diagnosis for you and do not tell anyone whatever they label it
@Screen77
Labeling theory is a very interesting theory in the sense that there are so many ways people react to receiving a label and there can never be really one focus on if it's truly good or bad. Like you said, labeling can really easily associate with stigma particularly when your label has had a negative historical connotation or leads to behaviors that deviate from the norm. These stigmas can further perpetuate behaviors and actions that feed into a vicious cycle of further reinforcing that stigma and making it difficult to overcome. There is a subset of people who when labeled will try their conscious best to avoid the behaviors associated with that label as to avoid the stigma that comes with it. However an interesting point was for some, labels do help particularly in the sense that it defines and it allows specific courses of actions in terms of treatment and intervention. Perhaps a person who had many confusing emotions can't get any help or do anything because that person doesn't know what they are struggling with. Sometimes the label can help as to help them start understanding and coming to predict their own 'unpredictable' behaviors. Also the labels allow them to receive treatment such as therapy and medication that they previously couldn't. Additionally sometimes people find consolation in their labels as it makes them more comfortable that it gives them more agency over their identity and who they are. It's really a person by person base and something to really think about.
