You are not your diagnosis.
You are not your diagnosis.
When it comes to mental health, a diagnosis may be used to describe the distress you are experiencing; but it is not who you are.
When a person comes into counseling, sometimes they have been previously diagnosed by another mental health professional. Some clients offer the diagnosis when asked, others lead with their diagnosis and acknowledge it right away.
When a person leads with the diagnosis, my ears often perk up. If they talk about or refer to their diagnosis often, it signals to me that they may have moved into making the diagnosis more of their identity.
A person’s identity is made up of so many things a diagnosis couldn’t possibly sum up all that a person is. Our identity includes our physical appearance, personality traits and characteristics, our values, behaviors, etc.
This may not be the best example, but I have freckles on my skin, this does not make me a freckle. And some days I notice my freckles a lot and other days I barely notice them at all. In addition to my freckles I have all these other things that make up who I am.
Like with anything, there are pros and cons to having a diagnosis. Lets look at the pros first and how a diagnosis can be helpful.
How can a diagnosis be helpful?
Sometimes we have to diagnose a problem to be able to find a solution. If a person is really struggling with their mental health in some way and it consistently affects their daily life a diagnosis can help to begin the process of narrowing down what treatment options are available.
Some of the treatment options may include being prescribed medication, or being advised to get help through some form of therapy or counseling where you might work on strategies for symptom reduction.
For some individuals there can be a great sense of relief in discovering answers and having a way to explain what they are experiencing. It can feel empowering and validating. Getting a diagnosis can also begin the process of managing and maybe even overcoming some of the problems you are experiencing. But if we aren’t careful it can become a problem.
How can receiving a mental health diagnosis become a problem?
On the negative side, a diagnosis can create a confirmation bias. If you are not familiar with confirmation bias, it occurs when an individual looks for and uses the information they receive to support their own ideas or beliefs (Spencer, 2018).
To say it another way, when given a diagnosis, for some people this becomes the lens through which they see the world and anything that deviates or does not fit through that lens is dismissed or ignored. The information that is dismissed is often positive and can be valuable to the person's mental health and recovery.
According to Veldmeijer et al. (2025), “it is not uncommon for people to internalize the labels they bear, aligning their lived experiences with the expectations imposed by these categories, making the label central to their identity. This is not without consequences.”
In an article by Parmley (2006), it is mentioned that a diagnosis does not only affect the person receiving the diagnosis but also how the clinician now views the patient. As a clinician it’s important to be aware of this. For clinicians taking a Humanistic Approach (an approach developed by Carl Rogers) may be a helpful practice when it comes to diagnosing. This approach views the whole person's uniqueness and utilizes unconditional positive regard to help a person feel accepted and understood no matter what they do or say.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)
When making a diagnosis we usually refer to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). This manual is meant to help clinicians identify labels to describe the distress a person is going through to know how to treat them. It can be a valuable tool but it is not without its flaws.
In an article entitled ‘Opening doors or building cages?’, Veldmeijer et al.,2025, states that “while the DSM uses a binary framework, research increasingly shows mental distress is a far more gradual, dynamic, and multi-dimensional experience.” So, while a diagnosis can provide some answers, if held too rigidly we may miss other important information that could be helpful to a person.
In practice, there have been clients that seemed to be desperately seeking a diagnosis for the distress they were experiencing. They may have been to many professionals before, and received different diagnoses from each clinician. Ironically the more effort they put into receiving the ‘right’ diagnosis the further away from a definitive diagnosis they seemed to be.
This highlights the drawbacks of focusing strictly on the negative experiences of life. Life doesn't usually fall into absolute categories. We have negative experiences, positive experiences and everything in between. Mental distress and personal change are fluid in nature (Veldmeijer et al.,2025). This suggests that even if a person has a diagnosis their symptoms typically ebb and flow and may not be present everyday, 24 hours a day, 100% of the time. You are not your diagnosis.
There are exceptions. There are moments where symptoms may be less and moments where they may even be non-existent. Part of the therapeutic work is to help the client see the exceptions.
But it doesn’t have to be the job of the clinician. You can be your own advocate and choose to hold your diagnosis loosely instead of completely identifying with it. It is your choice how you relate to your diagnosis.
Here are some ways to navigate the negative side of being diagnosed.
Ways to navigate the negative side of being diagnosed.
Awareness is the first step. If you don’t have awareness you have nothing to work with. Having an awareness that the human experience is not fixed and rigid, it is ever changing. Labels and diagnoses may be able to describe what is happening but can not define the whole person.
Work on being more flexible in your thinking. Allowing your diagnosis to guide treatment while not attaching too tightly to it. I once heard Dr. Michael Yapko, a renowned hypnotherapist, say that rigidity is the cause of most if not all of human suffering. If we are rigid in our attachment to our diagnosis, this can cause a new set of problems or exacerbate the ones you are currently experiencing.
Be aware that a diagnosis can create a confirmation bias in your view of reality. In some cases you may begin to look for evidence that supports your diagnosis even though there is other evidence there that goes against it. As mentioned before the human experience is typically ever changing which means there are exceptions to the rule. When working with clients who struggle with anxiety or depression, we can usually find moments where they were not feeling anxious or depressed. Sometimes in session I will ask, is your depression or anxiety present at this very moment and often the answer is no.
Be honest with yourself about what benefits this diagnosis may offer. Sometimes there are benefits to having a diagnosis and for some whether they can see it or not, the benefits may outweigh the negative consequences. It may feel good to have a label and this label or diagnosis can sometimes offer certain benefits that you may not want to give up. For example, I used to use my anxiety as an excuse. I would say, “Oh I can’t do that, I have anxiety.” Over time I learned that I was using my anxiety as a crutch but it also prevented me from doing all the things I actually wanted to do. I used it to sort of let myself off the hook from things.
Learn to be ok with being ok. The truth is, some of us feel more comfortable in the “not ok” mind space than the “ok” mindspace. When I worked in an outpatient hospital, it seemed like the minute someone started to feel “ok” they would end up going into the hospital not long after that. Could it be that for them being “ok” was more uncomfortable and scary than being “not ok.” For some people being “not ok” is their comfort zone, it’s what they are familiar with.
Take an active role in your mental health. Maybe that means learning about different diagnoses and treatment options. It could also mean making a conscious effort to look for evidence that suggests that you are not your diagnosis, that you are more. Keep a journal. Investigate. See if you can notice moments where your diagnosis is not a problem. Notice other characteristics about yourself that are positive even if it makes you feel uncomfortable.
If the list is overwhelming just choose one to start. Just having an awareness that a diagnosis could potentially color your view of the world alone will help you to view things differently, maybe more cautiously.
Conclusion
Diagnosing can be helpful when it comes to finding a solution to a problem or to help find ways to treat distress. The DSM, usually used for diagnosing, can be a valuable tool to do this but it is not without its flaws. The human experience is so complex, dynamic, and ever changing, and so are each one of us. A diagnosis rarely encompasses the full person or all the parts that make them up. In fact, a diagnosis can even be rigid and begin to limit a person's view of themselves and the world leading to confirmation bias. A diagnosis does not have to define you. You can take steps to view your diagnosis as something that is there though does not have to dictate how you live your life. It can be used to describe what you are experiencing and how to navigate it, but it does not have to define who you are.
References:
Born RT. Stop Fooling Yourself! (Diagnosing and Treating Confirmation Bias). eNeuro. 2024 Oct 22;11(10):ENEURO.0415-24.2024. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0415-24.2024. PMID: 39438140; PMCID: PMC11495861.
Catalogue of Bias Collaboration. Spencer EA, Heneghan C. Confirmation bias. In: Catalogue Of Bias 2018.
Parmley, M. C. (2006). The effects of the confirmation bias on diagnostic decision making [Drexel University]. https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-1164
Sims R, Michaleff ZA, Glasziou P, Thomas R. Consequences of a Diagnostic Label: A Systematic Scoping Review and Thematic Framework. Front Public Health. 2021 Dec 22;9:725877. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.725877. PMID: 35004561; PMCID: PMC8727520.
Veldmeijer, L., Terlouw,G., Boonstra, N., Van Os, J., Opening doors or building cages? The adverse consequences of psychiatric diagnostic labels, Current Opinion in Psychology, Volume 65, 2025, 102076, ISSN 2352-250X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2025.102076.
