Medical culture in different countries, and the US-Centric nature of mental health discussions...
There is this online consensus that the only options for disorders are âdiagnosedâ and âdoesnât have a disorderâ â any complexity, such as professional acknowledgment without diagnosis, is considered meaningless, and laughable.
This is mostly because many mental health spaces are heavily dominated by the culture and beliefs of the USA, which may not apply to all countries. For elaborationâŚ
In the US, diagnosis is usually necessary for insurance, and therefore treatment. Itâs a mandatory aspect of the mental health system â without diagnosis, you donât get support, due to financial and legal inaccessibility. This means, in practice, the options are âdiagnosedâ or âdoesnât have a disorderâ and, implicitly, cannot access treatment.
In other countries, for example many European countries, the culture is different. Many European countries donât require diagnosis for insurance or treatment. Many â for the example the UK â are attempting to move away from formal diagnosis, as a whole. This is due to the shift of focus onto Formulations, which identify symptoms, causes, and treatment. Of course, diagnosis is still available, though itâs increasingly harder to access, due to this cultural shift in treatment.
Your doctor, therapist and psychologist might all confirm your symptoms align with criteria for a disorder, and will treat you for that specific disorder. However, you still may not receive a formal diagnosis. Many UK mental health professionals will consider professional recognition (through therapy, assessment, differential considerations, etcâŚ) as being equivalent to diagnosis, since you have thorough, trained opinion which recognises your symptoms.
In the eyes of online mental health spaces, this experience and reality isnât acknowledged, or given validity, however, since it contradicts with US centric preconceptions of medical treatment. Even the most inclusive spaces divide people into âconfirmed, diagnosedâ or âsuspecting, seeking diagnosisâ â which someone in different countries may not align with, since they may be confirmed (and in treatment) though never given formal diagnosis.
Please remember that diagnoses are simply patterns of symptoms, itâs socially constructed. If someone is recognised as having symptoms which align with criteria for a diagnosis, they do experience that disorder, regardless of their countries culture around medicine.
To quote one popular post on here âstars are real, constellations are not.â
Please note this isnât about self diagnosis. Itâs only about professional acknowledgement in different countries, and the unimportant differences between someone who is ârecognised as having a specific pattern of symptoms and treated, with a written diagnosis for insuranceâ versus ârecognised as having a specific pattern of symptoms and treated, without a written diagnosis because itâs not needed for insuranceâ when it comes to having a disorder â self diagnosis is a very different topic, with different factors.