Addicts start off meetings by saying “I am ___ and I am an alcoholic/addict.” People with mental health diagnosis may say, “I am ___ and I have depression/bipolar.” My question is simple. If diagnoses are supposed to provide a map to understand me why must they simple reference what is hard or difficult for me to do? How accurate or complete of an understanding does that actually give another person. One of the things you are taught as a “patient” is to stop at difficulty. The difficulty you have is the person you are. Person after person who is involved with the mental health system has told me this is their biggest difficulty. One lady said it best, “My psychiatrist is truly naive. He truly believes that depression is all there is to talk about with me…He truly believes that is all there is about me. He doesnt begin to understand that even if he knows everything in the world about depression he may still not understand anything in the world about me.”
I really like the way Celebrate Recovery does it. “My name is ___. I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I struggle with issues of alcohol/drugs/depression/emotional stability/ sexual integrity…….” Are not the most important things to us the most important things about us??? Are the things we struggle with what we truly have??? If anyone understands me without understanding what is meaningful and important to me or what gives me purpose in life do they really understand me??? If you start with what is hard, even if it is really hard, then does not in practice everything become regarded as a symptom of what is hard.
As for me…My name Larry Drain. I am husband to Linda, and father to three. I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I believe life can get better regardless of how hard it is now or how long it has been hard. I believe the quality of me has a lot to do with how I see the quality of you. I struggle with many issues including depression and anxiety but also poverty and maybe most of all just simply getting older.
When I meet people with mental health diagnosis invariably the most important thing about them is not what their diagnosis tells me, but what is left unsaid or unrecognized.
March 21, 2013 at 2:14 am |
Just tweeted this. Keep up the good work. Roger http://www.rethinkingbipolar.com
March 21, 2013 at 10:58 am |
I agree that we are much more than our diagnosis. We are people who live with a variety of different factors. It is human nature to want to categorize in order to have a reference for understanding however, it is important to remember that a diagnosis is just one aspect of a person’s life. Thank you for posting your thoughts.
March 23, 2013 at 7:30 am |
I believe you are correct, Larry, in stating that our diagnosis does not relay to anyone what we are or what challenges we face. However, the reason that in AA the reason folks introdue themselves as “I am an alcoholic” or “I have the desire to stop drinking” is tied to remembering the commonality we have with each other in the room and not to define themselves by those terms. AA has 12 Traditions. The 3rd tradition states “The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking”. There are two types of AA meetings. Open meetings where anyone can attend (many times these open by folks only going around the room and giving their names) and closed meetings (which are only open to members of AA). During introductions with the traditional “I am an alcoholic” or “I have a desire to stop drinking” at a closed meeting assures others in the room that all present are “members” of AA. I am not stating that this is right or wrong, only the reason that is has become a tradition.
In other types of groups, where multiple challenges are faced, such as CR (Celebrate Recovery), all are welcome,but folks do identify themselves for membership by stating that they are believers in Jesus Christ. This is a requirement for membership in a CR group.
So, if you look at the reasoning behind some of these traditions, they provide an assurance of a single commonality between the people in the group and a modicum of safety to use that commonality as a focal point in discussions within the group. It is a part of the culture of these groups.
Where groups are open to different challenges or challenges within a broader topic area (NAMI Connections is open to all persons with mental health challenges vs. DBSA groups where people have the comnmonality of Depression and Bi-Polar only) there is no need to introduce ourselves with a “label” but only as a person with challenges. WE ARE MORE THAN OUR DIAGNOSIS.
Traditions in groups are their “meeting guidelines”, agreed on by the group as a whole, for the safety and comfort of those present. Again, not saying this is right or wrong, but do we not need to honor the right of people joining together for a common goal to do so?
If I am not comfortable in such a group (one that defines by diagnosis or commonality in its introductions), I have the choice of finding another group which might be a better fit for me as there are many paths to recovery.
March 27, 2013 at 11:25 pm |
Really??? Working with mental illness is difficult enough. Changing the landscape so we no longer have a framework from which to help people, does not seem like progress to me. Of course someone’s diagnosis is not WHO they are. It is a starting point through which we can use an appropriate means to help them. Part of that process is getting to the WHO.
March 28, 2013 at 7:27 am |
Dr Booth says it all. He tells us that he is a Doctor of something or other. We have little or no understanding of him by his description of his status, therefore he has power, It is my understanding, after working with hundreds of Doctors, Nurses and Psychologists etc. over 50 years, that they are as lost as the Patient/Client. They preserve their powerful status by diagnosing others. I include myself in this list.
March 28, 2013 at 9:56 am |
I so appreciate the insightful explanations given here. If the DSM is the roadmap, I wonder how the descriptions we are forced to work with, and provide to insurance companies (in order to provide treatment) have become the “destination” for so many millions of people. The reason, I believe, that people feel shamed is because of the “label” forced on them in order to get treatment. The hardest work I do is to try to convince people they are more than a label. If we were really operating from a standpoint of empathy, we would throw out the construct of the current system which divides up provision of healthcare under medical, mental health, and substance abuse, and call it what it is: health care. Period.
March 30, 2013 at 7:35 am |
I am happy with the recovery model but less sanguine re the religious view. The religious view can be like the diagnosis.