When your told you have mental issues, should you just agree?

[hades_leae]

I believe that in society people subject themselves to other people's judgments. In this case I'm talking about professionals.


I remember being much younger, 13 years old to be exact. In school they have examinations, and when they feel somethings is wrong, they call your parents and discuss what they think the problem is and possible solutions to help them to learn better. For me, I was told that I had A.D.H.D., and A.D.D., didn't even know you could have both at the same time. Just because someone else says you have something does that mean it's true?


It resulted in me needing to take medication that I did not want to take, some people take this to the head and let themselves believe that something is wrong with them because professionals say so. We make up all these mental issues and use them to describe someones behavior as if it's really a problem.


Young kids don't have mental issues, they are kids that want to explore, someone who says a child bad and misbehaves is one that needs medication to make them calm. I say that is a child who is normal and exploring as we would naturally do in our natural state, just because someone tries to tame you and you resist does not mean you have a mental disorder.


Should you agree with what the professionals say just because they are professionals?

 

[Alex]

I think people should always have a second or third opinion at least. I would also recommend therapy before medication, but medication is cheaper and seems faster. However, it's not always as effective. It's hard when you are vulnerable to know who to believe or to trust, but that's why if you have ore than one opinion and they say the same thing then there maybe grounds for what they say.

 

[Bea]

Well, like with physical illnesses, it's important to get a second opinion. The same is true for mental illnesses, I think, especially since some of them overlap and a good bit of them seem similar to each other.


But, you know - sometimes medication does help, whether or not we want to take it. (Of course, it isn't going to help much if you din't have that mental illness anyway.) Like Alex says, there are other alternatives, like different kinds of therapy. If you're hesitant to put yourself or your kids on medication, those are valid options.

 

[John Snort]

Professionals can be wrong. According to a study, each year, about 12 million Americans who seek outpatient treatment are misdiagnosed. Now these are physical illnesses. A person can have some lab tests and still . . . they get it wrong. I suppose that with mental illness more mistakes can be made. A professional may say someone has a mental illness when they actually don't. So though you shouldn't believe what professionals tell you, you should take their that diagnosis seriously enough to talk to a mental health specialist.

 

[aimeepoo]

I personally feel that other testing should be done and required before someone get diagnosed with anything. For example..there are some neurological disorders that can cause a person to hallucinate. So I feel that a second opinion is always necessary. I also feel that as a patient we should speak up and let the doctor know that we disagree with their diagnosis and we would like to be given more thorough tests for other physical issues.

 

[redpanda]

It depends a lot on the situation. I don't think a quick examination is enough to make a proper diagnosis in some cases; getting a second opinion is always a good idea. Make sure you're also talking to a psychiatrist or psychologist, not a general practitioner or therapist. As for kids not ever needing treatment, that's completely false. Some kids really do have mental illnesses that require therapy and/or medication. I'm not going to go into details but I tried to commit suicide when I was only 13 years old. Part of the problem was that my behaviors were initially written off as "hormones". Clearly, something was very wrong and it nearly killed me. Some kids really do need a diagnosis and extra support.

 

[joshposh]

A teacher in regular school is not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. They are not professional in the field of human behavior. So your assertion that he or she is a professional is false. The have no right or claim to such an accusation or diagnoses. It like me sitting her telling you that you have cancer. What is that diagnosis based on? Nothing. The same goes for a middle school teacher. They teach secondary education and not in the medical field. I think it's silly that you even for a second took their assertion seriously.

 

[Robilas]

It depends. I deeply trust my therapist but this never stopped me from having a second or even a third opinion: even professional can be wrong and it's completely normal. If the "evaluation" comes from a random school test, well, you have more than enough reason to ask for another opinion and you should see another therapist or doctor.


This is especially true for teens, since the words "mental issue" are used loosely for teens, so don't trust too much a single therapist. Keep in mind that at the same time you should not underestimate your health, so maybe a second opinion would be great.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

If ever I will be told that I had mental issues and I knew within myself that I am fine, I will not hesitate to ask for a second opinion. When it comes in determining the medical condition of a certain person we should not just rely on a first opinion diagnosis. We had experienced before a doctor said that our mother had an Alzheimer disease and he gave her many medicines and we trusted him at once. But in the end my mother's is not in good condition while in the course of taking all the medicines. So we decided to ask for a second opinion to another doctor and found out that she do not had that kind of disease and advised her not to take all the medicines anymore. Then in a month my mother condition gets better and still better after that. It is 15 years already and up to now my mother is still very healthy and active in her life no mental issues.

 

[Astrollo]

I seldom accept professional medical advice as being authoritative. I used to. But that has changed now. I believe medical doctors are nearly always ignorant of causes of health problems. If they say I have a mental problem, or I have a problem with my heart or my kidney, I interpret that to mean I have an imbalance in my body and/or in my environment, or I have a nutritional deficiency or a toxic condition inside me. Of course, I already knew that or I wouldn't have gone to the doctor. So, for me, the best way to approach any health problem or challenge is to start cleaning up the way I eat, avoid taking drugs with side effects and live life from a more calm and balanced perspective. I find meditation helps me find that calmness and helps me connect to my inner authority. I also eat organic foods and may even do a juice fast if I feel sick in any way. This approach has helped me overcome many, many health and psychological problems over the last 30 years.

 

[hades_leae]

If ever I will be told that I had mental issues and I knew within myself that I am fine, I will not hesitate to ask for a second opinion. When it comes in determining the medical condition of a certain person we should not just rely on a first opinion diagnosis. We had experienced before a doctor said that our mother had an Alzheimer disease and he gave her many medicines and we trusted him at once. But in the end my mother's is not in good condition while in the course of taking all the medicines. So we decided to ask for a second opinion to another doctor and found out that she do not had that kind of disease and advised her not to take all the medicines anymore. Then in a month my mother condition gets better and still better after that. It is 15 years already and up to now my mother is still very healthy and active in her life no mental issues.

I just feel that in our society, we always follow what other people say because we are taught that they are the professionals, and what they say is right. I don't care if 20 people told me I have a mental issue, I look at it as they want me to have mental problems.


Some actually do it because they get money from putting people on subscriptions. They will tell you that you have a condition, and then recommend some medication. I was put on Adderral when I was younger, and was on it for 3 years. I don't need it now, and never did. It was used on me because I was told that I was diagnosed with a mental disorder, when really it was given to me to keep me call.


When you don't want to deal with someone who doesn't know how to sit down, you just put them on medication that will shut their system down.

 

[Androlo]

I think a large part of the problem is that everything in the medical field is done by procedure. Medical professionals are trained to follow the routine when it comes to recognizing and diagnosing illness, especially mental illness, which can be incredibly difficult to recognize anyway. Even more so when it comes to psychiatric illnesses like personality disorders. A lot of therapists tend to look for certain patterns as indicators of mental illness and then use those patterns to base their diagnosis on, even though those patterns of thoughts/emotions/behaviours may have a different cause. Personally, I always felt that any therapist I ever saw sort of had an understanding of things but didn't really quite understand it fully and I do believe that's because many of them have not experiencing the symptoms or how those symptoms manifest in the first place from a long-term subjective viewpoint. As someone who has had incredibly extreme experiences in life, both positive and negative, many of which you wouldn't even believe if I told you, and as someone who has researched psychology, psychiatry, consciousness, subconsciousness, the true nature of mind, quantum physics, metaphysics, mental health, etc, I feel that I now have a much better understanding of the mind and all things related than they do, even though I am not a therapist.

 

[bangtanboys]

A lot of kids are misdiagnosed with ADHD and ADD because parents and teacher just want an explanation for why they're kids are acting a certain way. I would get multiple opinions first before believing that my child has a disorder. And it really sucks because these kids grow up thinking that there's something wrong with them and use it as a crutch, when really they're fine. I've said this before, but no one knows you better than yourself. If I'm ever diagnosed with a mental illness I don't have -- or conversely told I don't have one when I know in my gut I do -- I would take this "professional" opinion with a grain of salt.


Albeit, for the most part, I do think therapists, psychologists, and others with an MD after their name do know what they're doing. It's just the few bad eggs that ruin it for everyone.

 

[Corzhens]

It had never happened to me since I have been a normal child, an ordinary growing kid with not much issues in adolescent. And when I became an adult, I have maintained my normalcy. But my brother was once in a sad condition of being addicted to drugs. There was a time that he was sent to a rehabilitation where the psychiatrist said that he was suffering from a mental illness. I think it was psychosis or something. My brother was a teenager at that time and I thought that was the end of him. Fortunately, he was able to recover after being in the rehab and has been normal ever since. He had stopped his drug habit and promised my mother he would go straight. And happily, he fulfilled his promise. Now he is a good provider and a good grandfather to his 2 grandsons.

 

[kgord]

I agree with Bangtang Boy. ADD ad ADHD along with Bi Polar are catch all diagnoses used by Mental Health professionals for behavior that doesn't seem to fit any other diagnostic criteria. I think similar to getting a medical diagnosis, getting a second diagnosis if you have been diagonosed with a mental condition is a good thing to do. Sometimes behavioral therapy is all that is needed to change behaviors. I think relying on one person to give a diagnosis is probably not the right thing to do.

 

[MellowCat]

Yes, sometimes this can be a big problem. Get a second or third opinion, even if you feel like the first person who tells you is probably right. As a silly example, I was recently sized at a 34D in a bra and then later told by a sales assistant, no a 32DD was probably better for me, and then I went to another store and they told me a 34 B. 34B was what I measured myself at , so I was actually shocked but also happy that my own calculations had been more accurate than two professionals! Again, silly example, but the same can apply to almost anything.


The other side of this coin, however, is when someone points out that something might be a concern and you ignore it. It's not a wise idea to ignore people who love you and want to help. Sometimes they notice things about us that we do not notice about ourselves.

 

[Theazzz]

I agree with you. I think it's basically criminal of professionals to be diagnosing such vast volumes of kids with mental disorders. Seems to me they do it just for the hell of it and possible monetary gains under the table. Kids are kids and should be guided through childhood behavioral hurdles, not labelled as having a mental condition.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

hades_leae Actually the first doctor who had made a wrong diagnosis to my mother and who gave her too many medications that was not supposed to be had really affected her body system that is why she was always shaking at that time and does not feel better even while she is taking all the medicines. That is why we all decided to asked for a second opinion and we had made the right decision. This experience made us not to trust at once a single diagnosis just in case a member of a family need to be examine by a medical professional regarding any ailments.

 

[hades_leae]

hades_leae Actually the first doctor who had made a wrong diagnosis to my mother and who gave her too many medications that was not supposed to be had really affected her body system that is why she was always shaking at that time and does not feel better even while she is taking all the medicines. That is why we all decided to asked for a second opinion and we had made the right decision. This experience made us not to trust at once a single diagnosis just in case a member of a family need to be examine by a medical professional regarding any ailments.

I hate to hear that, the shaking is not something I would ever want to see a loved one have as a side effect from taking prescribed medication.


I remember also having to take benadryl when I was younger also, I was told that it would control my behavior, but it put me to sleep. I took 3 different medications every day. I know now it was just to control my behavior.


I don't understand how that doctor could have made that diagnosis wrong like that. It makes me wonder if degrees re being handed out to anyone who makes it to the end, and also if they know what they are doing. I want to know what goes on behind closed doors when they are told about new medications to offer their patients.

 

[vegito12]

I think people should find out more information as it can be easy to think you have something wrong when you don't as some people may take a little longer to understand things like in schools the way maths is taught may not be easy for some people and if they are taught in a way which is easy to understand then they can understand the subject and enjoy it if they are shown how it is used in our everyday life. It can be easy to believe something as fact if we don't do research like in India in the rural areas the people don't have modern technology and can be easily convinced they have an illness or instead of going to the doctor go to a witch doctor to get healed which is sad as that person may be just there for the money, not the person. I reckon that sometimes it can be frustrating in this world to try and seek help for our health sometimes as we may be busy with our job or just making enough money to get by and can be easy to ignore our health and put it off and that can cause concern for the ones close to us as they may be worried we are not doing anything about the issue.