Recent Posts
A Counsellor’s Response to Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth?
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August 28, 2026, 2:29 pm
Women’s Mental Health: What about hormones?
Picture by LugiL – Deviant art
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Why Workplaces Can Be Toxic for Neurodiverse People: The Challenges of “Fitting In”
The AI picture of me is how a corporate Elaine should look apparently. It doesn’t look or feel like me, in fact it’s uncomfortable to look at. But it’s what I tried to be for a couple of decades , always wondering why I...
June 2, 2026, 9:59 am
Photo by Softarea - Deviant art
More and more people have a mental health diagnosis, from depression to borderline and then back again. Labels are a mixed blessing, as on one hand they give us access to support from the medical profession, access to services and people with similar issues but they also give us stigma. A study of 14 year old school children gave us 250 different derogatory terms for people with a mental health issues. From nuts to thick and worse. (Rose, Thornicroft, Pinfold, & Kassam, 2007)
Mental health varies from person to person and gender to gender. Labels have to fit boxes which are laid out by the DSM 5 or other huge volumes of mental health issues. It’s not like physical health as let’s face it a broken leg now is the same as it was in Victorian times and in ancient Greece.
Along with constant changes to diagnostic criteria, the label can be too wide or too narrow to be useful. A study shows that Autism when diagnosed against criteria in 2004 would get a different diagnosis to that in the current version of DSM 5 printed in 2013. (Wilson, et al., 2013)
Then the stigma and regular misdiagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) or borderline can be totally stigmatising, as we are seen as attention seeking, over sensitive and not really taken seriously. I have heard these words from medical professionals to my clients.
Sadly, for some of us the label becomes who we are and we live the condition. The diagnosis can leave us feeling like we have no hope. If this is what we have there is no way to recover and the helpless thoughts can take over. The label becomes our value to others and points to –“they are the one with OCD” etc.
The label we carry can lead to services dealing with the symptoms not the cause of our mental distress. For example PTSD has many symptoms and often it is simply medicated but not dealt with.
There is a delicate balancing act for mental health diagnosis. Sometimes a diagnosis of OCD, anxiety or depression frees us from shame and the feeling we are going mad. These diagnoses can often give us a platform to seek help and support, and a way to explain our distress in a way people understand.
The diagnosis also gives us closure, as we no longer try to work out what is wrong with us by searching ‘Dr Google’ with our symptoms and scaring ourselves, but more importantly by explaining any destructive behaviours we may have.
For me, diagnosis needs to be done with the client, not for them. There needs to be a combination of support and that can mean, medication, talking therapy, support groups and crisis intervention. The most important thing is the client feels empowered and that their voice is heard throughout the process.
The root cause of the issues has to be supported and explored for there to be a way to manage any mental health condition. Being heard is one of the most powerful ways to deal with any mental health condition.