So this is a tad personal, but I finally got the closest to a professional diagnosis regarding mental health I'll most likely get after years of running around for one, as it can regularly be incapacitating to an extent. #mentalhealth

The reason I didn't get one before was mostly evoked as "we don't want you to pin your entire identity to your diagnosis". While I see where this comes from and how it could hypothetically prevent progress and healing, from my experience this is a complete horse shit reason.

I'm not sure how/when this belief of "mental health as identity being a threat" has reached actual psychologists, but I can't believe the risk of over-identifying took over the complications of being undiagnosed and acting weird in a society that expects you to be reliable.

I feel much more supported since I got a sense of mine; externally, by a word that doesn't come from me and therefore cannot be extrapolated as fabricated. But also internally. It's impossibly easy to doubt your legitimacy at not acting "right", and this aggravates the problem.

Not really sure where I'm going with this thread, if not to give a counterpoint to that fear of "becoming your diagnosis" that have prevented me from getting one for years. I also do not feel strong attachement to it, nor in the thought of it being "part of my identity."

At the end of the day, imho, it's just a very useful tool in managing the complexities of mental illness in real concrete life, where you are expected to hold a job and have interactions with other humans. Just like meds, or anything else.

So yeah, if you don't have one but feel like it would help, I'd advise you to push forward if you can afford it.