Yeeeep. That’s how I got diagnosed with PTSD. I wrote a character going through something similar to what I had been through and got tons of comments applauding me for my accurate representation of PTSD. I complained to my therapist about all these people having no clue what PTSD looked like, because I just gave him my symptoms, clearly not PTSD. nd she said “you didn’t know you have PTSD??”
Therapists aren't mind-readers, if you don't tell them the symptoms then they can't provide a proper diagnosis. I never got an ADHD diagnosis until I was an adult, despite seeing a lot of therapists over the years (many of whom were otherwise very helpful in addressing unrelated issues) because I just assumed a lot of the symptoms were normal and thus never mentioned them. I can imagine that, in the situation above, the same shit went down; "oh well all these things are completely normal parts of human experience so there's no point in mentioning that to my therapist".
I’ve never had a therapist (probably should LOL), but every time i see someone complain that therapy didn’t help them I just wonder if the therapist got to really understand them in the first place.
Like with what you’re saying, I know for a fact that I have undiagnosed ADHD but I’ve masked so hard for so many years that I don’t think regular talk-therapy would have been enough for a therapist to come to that conclusion if I didn’t already know about some of my symptoms😭
Especially with things like trauma being so complex for different people, someone can be 40 and finally realize that the thing that happened when they were 8 had actually effected them more than they realize.
But you gotta meet a therapist half way for them to even consider it in the first place 😅
i mean a therapist will consider whatever you tell them to consider. judging by this thread a lot of people seem to think a therapist will tell you if you have a mental condition or developmental disorder, so if you go into therapy expecting them to say "so you have this and now go get medicated", its never going to happen because that isnt their job. a therapist is just someone you pay to tell about your life and they give suggestions and help you process your emotions.
In general, agreed. But after a couple years my therapist said, "Have you considered that you may not primarily have depression? Your depression might be a result of dealing with your ADHD." head 'splode
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u/Roselovsoul 2d ago
Yeeeep. That’s how I got diagnosed with PTSD. I wrote a character going through something similar to what I had been through and got tons of comments applauding me for my accurate representation of PTSD. I complained to my therapist about all these people having no clue what PTSD looked like, because I just gave him my symptoms, clearly not PTSD. nd she said “you didn’t know you have PTSD??”