Do ever feel like you've been branded with a diagnosis and so that's all people ever see? I feel like those is the medical industry are the worst. I was in the ER earlier this week for a racing heart and nausea. They only saw panic attack because my chart said I have borderline personality disorder. I've had panic attacks before and I've had tachycardic spells. I can tell the difference!

Does this ever happen to you guys?

No because I am terrified to tell others about what I suffered (postnatal depression). I did work in law enforcement (part of the reason I didn't tell anyone) and yes, complete branding of those with mental illness. It gets very frustrating and sometimes I just yell at people, "people with mental illness can have real other problems too!!!!" ~ it's like they get tunnel vision and can't see that! Health services are terrible for this too. I'm sorry you went through that

I've never thought of depression as a mental illness until now. I suffer from depression and the term "suffer" is very accurate. It is a daily battle but things are improving and I am motivated having found this site!!!

I feel 4 ya!

It happens ALL the time. The stigma gets old. I can't change the past anymore than anyone else so why does that have to define my future. I'm proud of who I've become and what I've overcome.

And it really bugs me when gamily and friends do it too. Today I posted something on facebook about how sick I felt and someone who knew me in high school commented "You're not going through this alone, you're strong and there are those who love you..." Yeah, I know that, but that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I feel sick.

The trouble is, we can get branded by whatever it is that medical others see as our main condition.
There is one terrific doctor at my practice, and I can talk deperession to her as normally as I could talk headaches.
There is another one (whom I refuse to see now, long story) who defines everything that might be wrong with me as because I'm getting old (56)
I've had others assume everything was down to being fat (probably true but still annoying as a first diagnosis); that my depression was due to being single; that I was approaching menopause; that I was going through menopause; that I'm now out the other side of menopause.

I don't think it just happens with mental illness, it's whatever seems the most likely, global thing wrong with us. What bothers me, beyond irritation, is that it feels like lazy diagnosis, and I worry what else they might have missed. Of course, that might be down to being fat, single, depressed (although not at the moment), post-menopause, and a touch of the hypochondriac.

Interesting post for me. I'm an RN and hubby is an ER physician assistant. So we are both in the medical field. Also, I have dealt with depression since my teens, and only recently is it becoming clear that I've followed more of a bipolar pattern, but really only the depression bother me. I have a history of what is probably hypo manias, perhaps not full blow manic periods.
DH and I have talked about it, and I spend every damned day trying to grab the bull by the horns. I have come close to trying to get an official diagnoses, but I won't take meds, so why bother to get a label. Between DH and I's experience and education, and my family history of mental illness, and my therapist 's opinion(who is not qualified to officially diagnose) I know I'm bipolar, or at least cyclothymia.

So here's the skinny. Its not going to be nice, its going to be honest. There's some people that always seem to be thinking something is wrong with them. Every palpitation, every pain, every headache, every sneeze. I'm not saying that they aren't feeling these things. I'm sure they are, but so does everyone else, only these people are always looking for answers. Constantly at the doctors with every new symptom, in the ER for every little thing. The human body isn't perfect. Sometimes it might have some kinks that there's really no diagnoses or cure for. But they always seem to have a ton of "things wrong". As a healthcare provider, its annoying.

And for every 100 patients that show up at the ER looking for the reason, 1 might actually have a real problem. The others are just wasting the medical staff's time. That's how we see it. Unfortunately, after years of practicing, we start to see a pattern. People with certain diagnoses, which I will not list at risk of offending anyone, end up being these whiney patients. And then we begin to prejudge people based on their diagnoses, because, honestly, its a very strong pattern.

Also these patients always seem to be very emotionally needy. They want a lot of validation. They want to know that we think their complaints are important. They don't want to feel ignored, dismissed, or feel over looked. Much more so than your average patient. Its exhausting. When you have sick people to care for, and then you have patient X that has a long history of ER visit after ER visit, and a list a mile long of NON LIFE THREATENING complaints, and patient X is taking up your time with yet another issue, while a patient down the hall is actually sick well, many healthcare providers are tired of it.

I have major anxiety issues. I've had many times where I've had those 'feels like a heart attack or can't catch my breath' feelings. The kind that MANY patients come to the ER with. I've never gone to the ER. Because I know I'm having a panic attack and it will pass. Its not going to kill me. Its sucks, but I just talk myself through it. I try to do some deep breathing. I ride it out.

Yes, there is a stigma. But I can PROMISE you, as a nurse, that this comes from having so many patients that are as I described. (At least in our field) You will actually find that the brand new nurses will be the most compassionate, since they lack the repetitive experience with these patients.

As someone with mental health issues, I understand the struggle, but I don't understand why mental health issues is synonymous with a laundry list of physical complaints, doctors visits, and ER visits.

I know my post was fresh, but I figured I'd take a shot at explaining what its like from our perspective.

I agree to an extent with previous posters about being branded with a certain condition and only being seen and known for that.... but perhaps after being branded with that certain condition and made feel like thats all your known for that some people (and im not saying anyone in this group) but perhaps some people feel that because theyre supposed to be "this person" that they play it up intentionally or intentionally for the attention? i agree with glamour girl being in the psych field that patients sometimes do just playup every single symptom when its more then likely nothing and even if its a little something it will more then likely pass without medical or psychological assistance....
but you are right the stigma is getting old... everyone is still a person first.... their problems and diseases are just pieces of their personalities and being...

The thing is, sometimes some of us are emotionally very needy; not just seem to be but are.

If you spend your life, as I do, burying people who were fine one moment, dead of something simple the next; if you live alone, as I do, and know that because of work patterns I could lie dead for 4 days before anyone wondered where I was; then when something's wrong with me, like a big but simple fall that bruised things internally for weeks and has caused nerve damage still with me 2 years on that I accept is minor and non-life threatening but feels very odd to Me, yes, I am needy. I'm not wimping or whining, I need to know that Dr. X. isn't just writing me off with a "seen it all before" diagnosis: s/he might have dealt with this many times, it's only happened to me this once; that s/he might have hundreds of people who are there every verse end with a long list of simple things that don't require attention, I'm Not one of them: I am always civil, wait patiently for doctors who over-run and don't apologize, and rarely go to the doctor's at all, so when I do, I want to be heard.

In my job too, there's little that people can present me with that I haven't met before in terms of need; and sometimes it is hard to Personally care about each situation, as near as I can get is to care enough to show the care and interest the person's expecting, even if my heart doesn't mean it. I guess that's what I look for in my doctors too.

I can see both sides. My point is to not write a person off based upon an assumption. When people are treated like less than human because they are worried about something (real or not real) it may make them less inclined to ever come back for help, even when it is life threatening. That's how I am and that's how I wound up in the ER. For weeks I knew my heart medication was failing but I didn't want to go to my doctor because I had just been there for something else and I didn't want to seem whiny about another problem. Finally one day, it quit working altogether and I was found unconscious at the bus stop with my heart rate in the 190's. All day I knew I should have called my doctor. I knew the signs, I knew that nausea and a high hr would lead to no good, but I was afraid to be seen weak. Because the last time it happened I went to the ER with this I was told it was just a panic attack and that I shouldn't waste their time. That stigma is what could have led me into a life threatening situation. People need to think twice about writing someone off and assuming they know them after spending 5 minutes with them and looking at their history.

This is out of character for me. 99.9999999999999999999% of my posts are mild, neutral, supportive. Maybe I need to start eating sugar again? (I'm poking fun at one of my posts in another forum..anyway..) But this one really struck a chord with me.

I don't know the full story. The first post sounded as if you went into the ER and you knew it was a cardiac event, but the medical staff didn't. And because of your history they mistook it for a panic attack. It doesn't say if they figured out what was really going on (cardiac issue).

You also said you're on a heart med, but I don't know which one. However, I've never had one just "fail" a patient. Do people need their doses adjusted over time? Absolutely. But what you describe is a heart condition (I don't know what yours is) that is rapidly progressing, so fast that your current dosage suddenly became so little for your needs that it offered no control of your symptoms. I'm not a doctor, but that sounds like something that would have warranted a hospital admission and further testing. Again, I don't know the full story, but what you're relaying doesn't make sense medically, or the chop-shop of a hospital you went to needs to be shut down, because they've set themselves up for a huge law suit.

You said you knew it was cardiac, not anxiety related, but you chose not to go into your doctors because you didn't want to seem whiney. You knew this for weeks that it was "failing" (again, I've never heard of that in my career, and I worked on a cardiac floor early in my nursing, but I don't know everything, obviously, so maybe its a newer med I've never worked with) so you must have known you were going to end up somewhere with a serious heart event, either eventually in the doctor's office or the ER. Or dead, thankfully that wasn't the outcome.

You blame the stigma for you not seeking help sooner for something you knew was a serious condition. I'm sorry, but that's no ones fault but your own.
I assume while you were in the ER, they realized there was a real cardiac issue and corrected your meds? So they really didn't write you off if they found out what was really going on and corrected it. Writing you off would be if they diagnosed you with a panic attack and sent you on your way. And I know that wasn't the case, because the progressively worsening scenario you describe of your med failing, would not just correct itself. If it got so bad you were passing out, and the ER happened to miss the real issue, you wouldn't have just gotten over it. So, it is only logical the ER did eventually realize that you were having heart problems and not just your garden variety panic attack.


I know you wanted to blow off steam. And it wasn't a personal attack on me as a nurse. But what you described is a situation that is 100% your doing but all the lessons to be learned are directed at the healthcare staff. You avoided your primary doctor with a legitimate health concern that should have been handled Mon - Fri 9 to 5. Then you ended up in the ER, after it already escalated to an emergency. THAT behavior is a part of the stigma! To say that people (I gather we are talking about health care workers) should not make assumptions based on someone's history, when you are doing exactly what was expect from people with said history...well, of course the healthcare workers will be annoyed!
I'm not saying this is why you went to the ER instead of your doctors, but it really seems that certain people with certain diagnoses like the drama and attention. And this no secret in the healthcare community.

There's no doubt in my mind I am bipolar. I have an official diagnoses of depression, but I've only looked for help during depression phases, because I like feeling manic, so I've never seen a doctor during a manic phase. I've also been on and off antidepression meds. But I've found through trial and error (and what medically recommended!) I can not take them without a mood stabilizer. My aunt is diagnose bipolar. My mother has a few official diagnoses thrown here way. She really fits the bill for bipolar and borderline. Both parents suffer from severe anxiety, and my extended family has various anxiety disorders, depression, one schizophrenic that before meds thought people were spying on her through the TV, and a recovering drug addict (they deal with stigmas as well). I have had patients that had every stigma carrying diagnoses in their medical history be really awesome patients, and people with the picture perfect reason for coming to the ER (I used to do EMS before I was a nurse) be demanding jerks...really it boils down to the person, not their diagnoses.

We are not making assumes about you after spending 5 minutes with you based on your history. Nearly all assumptions, especially the negative ones, are made before we even see a patient; when all we have to go on is the history, or what we've heard about the person from other staff taking care of that patient. I know I'm not speaking for every health care worker in the country, but I can speak for my husband and nearly all the people I've worked with when I say, after 5 minutes with you, the patient, the assumption is either confirmed or proved wrong. Is it absolutely wrong to even form an idea about a patient before caring for them? Yes. Its an awful thing, and we are actually given classes on how to STOP doing that. Its wrong, and I don't think we should ever prejudge someone based on their history. But do nurses, doctors ect still do it? Yes. But in the first 5 minutes, if the patient doesn't fit the stigma, most health care providers with let go of their preconceived ideas about that patient.
I hope this helps. I'm really not a confrontational person on this site. But I feel like this had to be said.

I agree that healthcare workers would be annoyed but "we" (meaning those of us in emergency services - nurses, doctors, 911 operators, police officers) need to remember that by becoming jaded and branding people with stereotypes is how people fall through the cracks and someone gets hurt - or worse. I know, I sat there myself many times rolling my eyes to the same thing over and over again but complacency in these jobs are what gets people hurt.

When it comes to emergency services, we also need to recognize that humans make mistakes and don't do things according to how the system wants them. That's just a fact of life and if we can't handle it (not saying we have to like it!) then we need to reconsider our positions because human nature doesn't change.

If I had a nickel for every time a person called 911 over 4 hours too late, came into the police station when it wasn't important, wasted my time with an 'unimportant' event or didn't contact the police for something extremely serious (ie. elderly people that don't like to 'bother' police when they are being robbed blind) then ... you know? It's frustrating, I know. But we can't brand people and ignore that a person may have real issues. It may be the 1 time out of 100, but that's our job.

yes! Whenever I mention about wanting thyroid testing done it's always brushed off for depression... really, how backwards is it to not just check thyroid levels since a sluggish thyroid can cause depression like symptoms (tired, muscle aches) and to make sure it's not a physical thing going on? Considering the side effects and risks of some antidepressant and anxiety drugs, why would I want to go on those first?

I read there's so much money to be made in mental illnesses they just brand and label anything to sell the drugs for it even when it's pretty normal to have different human emotions during the day, to feel sad and happy at different times in life.

I have to learn to not tell people how I'm feeling, if I feel down about personal things going on in my life or even have back or muscle aches because it will eventually lead to pointing towards depression and the rest of the things will be brushed off. I guess I'm lucky I don't have any doctor or medical history for anxiety/depression since I read jobs, colleges, the army, peace corps and even if you want to adopt a child outside of the country, they can all look up your medical history! and can all turn you down for a history of mental illness! Even if it was 10 years ago, it can still be held against you. Atleast that's what I read. It's sad and scary

It's not always stereotyping, Not sure about Canada, but I'm sure in the US if someone walks in with insurance and complains then they are treated right away whether it's the "everyday complaints" or a real emergency. no insurance or medicaid people are probably more likely to get put on the back burner as the people who just go in and ask for help for "no reason".

Thanks ringmaster, no we don't have that style of healthcare here so I didn't even think about that part too. And of course, those with mental illness tend to have higher rates of unemployment or be lower income and don't have insurance either I suppose...??