Avoiding Becoming Your Diagnoses

When you are diagnosed with a mental health issue, such as Bipolar Disorder, OCD, an eating disorder, or Asperger’s, it can be a challenge to not allow these labels to become part of your identity. After all, they often seem like a huge part of who you are because the symptoms can affect the way that other people — from your friends and peers to your teachers and parents — treat you. There are coping skills that can help you keep your diagnoses separate from your identity.

Let Your Diagnoses Set You Free

This concept might sound a bit simplistic, but it is vital to keeping your diagnosis separate from who you are as an individual. When you have horrible thoughts that you know are not characteristic of your inner being, knowing that these are the result of your OCD can help you to not internalize them. You can point to the fact that they are part of your diagnosis — OCD — not your identity.

Accept Your Diagnosis, Then Work With It

Just because you have been diagnosed, does not mean that your identity has been wiped away. Even though you have OCD, you are still the girl that likes to draw anime characters along the margins of your notebook. Just because your doctor has diagnosed you with Asperger’s does not take away from the fact that you can build an engineering robot without using any directions. These positive attributes are still part of your identity – they are the things that make up your identity, not your diagnosis.

Instead, embrace your diagnosis as something that you need to work with in order to learn to live the life you want. Just as you would get glasses if your eye doctor told you that you need them, you should follow the recommendations of your medical team when it comes to medication, therapy, and activities. These are the tools that will help keep your diagnosis from integrating itself into your identity.

You Don’t Have to Inform Everyone

There is a valid fear that if you tell people that you have a diagnosis, they will then look at you — and even treat you — differently. There is still a stigma attached to mental health challenges, though, it is becoming less so. Regardless of this, you are not obligated to tell anyone about your diagnosis that you don’t want to. Some people, such as your parents, doctors, and therapist are going to know. These people typically make up part of your support team and should respect your desire to not tell anyone that you don’t want to know.

Your therapist can provide other methods that are designed to help you keep your diagnosis separate from your identity. It’s important to remember that you are not your OCD, Asperger’s, eating disorder or bipolar disorder. That is only one small slice of who you are.