the day I lost 28 followers was when I wrote my thread about having a personality disorder

one of my therapists asked me once if I felt like having the diagnosis was helpful, and honestly, I feel like it is; I might have to deal with the stigma attached to the disorder, but it also gives me a framework for what I want to work on in therapy

I don't think you need a diagnosis to know that you're sick or that something is affecting your life, but for me the value of a diagnosis (not just in mental illness) is being able to say, okay, this is what I have and these are the things I need to manage

I'm sure that's different for everyone - this works for me because I did four years of med school and am used to thinking in terms of problem-solving a set of symptoms and I structure my recovery around that

if that doesn't help you, that's not a bad thing, we're all different

I know some people feel like a diagnosis is confining because it can limit the scope of the discussion about treatment and management, and I do know doctors who get locked into the mindset of hearing a diagnosis and wanting to treat a symptom profile that may not reflect reality

ultimately the best treatment is the one that works for you, whatever that looks like, and trying to impose one model on everyone is not only futile but illogical because every patient has different needs and goals when it comes to their health

anyway, uh, I guess don't follow me if you have a problem with personality disorders? but hi to everyone else and thank you for joining us here, we generally have a pretty fun time