Can mental health professionals lie to you about your diagnosis if they deem that knowing the diagnosis would be harmful to you?
It would be highly unethical to directly lie to you, but they can avoid telling you - however it's quite unlikely unless you're a) under 18 or b) in immediate danger of seriously harming yourself or others.
What country are you in?
>>16513370
Well, I asked for the entirety of my medical records, and the institutions sent me a few irrelevant papers (such as where and when I was hospitalized, and other generally irrelevant stuff), without sending me the papers with the diagnosis and the concluding statements.
They do have these papers, since all the institutions I've been to made one diagnosis or another.
Also, the institution which is currently responsible for my follow up didn't send me any notes or information about my illness at all when I asked them for my full medical records.
Should I get a lawyer involved? Full access to medical records is a legal right in my country.
>>16513386
>Should I get a lawyer involved? Full access to medical records is a legal right in my country.
Probably; at least keep badgering them about it. Honestly it's probably just laziness and bureaucracy, if you annoy them enough they should give it to you...
>>16513351
I'm pretty sure it's outright illegal to lie to a patient about their own diagnosis in the US. Informed consent laws and all that. It's pretty similar in most of the world nowadays. What country do you live in?
I know that there WAS a culture around this kind of thing in Japan for a long time -the concept even made it into some famous medical manga- but the laws have changed since then. Even back then, though, the patient's family had to be told the truth.
But I think I remember you. Weren't you trying to get access to a doctor's private notes, rather than the actual records? You do not have a right to those, nor should you. They are not proper records, and they do not contain useful information, other than the things already copied into the proper records.
You were asking for your diagnosis. That should be present on your bills, if nowhere else: insurance companies demand it, and so it has become standard to put them there. Lying to insurance companies is a serious crime, so even if they told you something else, the teuth will be there. It may be in the form of a code number, but those codes can be looked up.
As for not sending you information on your disease, that sounds like a shitty hospital. I'm not entirely sure what to tell you on that, but if we can figure out your diagnosis, we may be able to point you toward good information.
>>16513535
>That should be present on your bills
It isn't. The diagnosis stated on my medication and insurance bills is "ILLNESS".
Also, my doctor's notes are presented in the form of medical records. He writes them on papers which are titled "MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS".
I was told very different diagnoses by different (and sometimes even same) mental health professionals who have full access to my records. Sometimes, the same mental health professional tells me I have one diagnosis, and completely different diagnosis during the next appointment. Psychiatric diagnoses don't work that way - they tend to be very stable, and don't change (at least not as fast) in most cases.
I think some mental health professionals don't want to tell me the truth because I most likely have a very serious psychiatric illness (such as schizophrenia, for example), and they know that I would be devastated by a definitive diagnosis. So they beat around the bush.
>>16513386
What you describe is not lying.
There are many legitimate reasons why the patient himself would not be given access to all the records.
For example: the law may forbid it. The file may contain the doctors' rough notes as well as final reports, and such notes are always speculative and partial, and could be misleading to a layman.
Doctors and hospitals are FAR more likely to release full records to other professionals - to your new doctors, for example - because they can be more certain they will be properly understood.
I remember you posting this same question a few weeks ago and getting the same replies. It's not going to change just because you keep asking.
>>16513705
>For example: the law may forbid it. The file may contain the doctors' rough notes as well as final reports, and such notes are always speculative and partial, and could be misleading to a layman.
But the law doesn't forbid it where I live. In fact, the law states that I have a right to access the entirety of my medical records. However, the diagnostic statements and final reports weren't transmitted to me when I asked for the entirety of my medical records. And on top of that, I had to pay for this - I paid for something which I didn't get.
I requested the entirety of my records, didn't get entirety of them, and in the end, had to pay for it. What the fuck is this shit? How can this even be legal?
Is it possible to sue them in case if they refuse to provide full information?
...In what case would not knowing what your problems are make anything better? Even with severe mental illnesses, knowing your own problem no matter what it is is an important part of being able to control it.
A doctor might try to kill you with an improper diagnosis, but they would only do that if they had a "good" reason. Like they hate white people or something.
>mfw when OP has schizophrenia and is in denial about it, going as far as having paranoias as being withheld his own medical records, even with doctors telling him the truth: that he is no longer a man, and is now a puppet of madness
>>16513812
I'm not in denial. In fact, as I stated previously in this thread, I think that I have schizophrenia, and that I'm being bullshitted to about having a less severe disorder.
I've been to several mental health providers, and 2 of them made a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (some also added a diagnosis of autism on top), 1 made a diagnosis of schizo-affective disorder, and 1 made a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia (my first diagnosis).
All of them told me that I don't have the other diagnoses.
It's a dilemma, since because of this I don't know what disorder I truly have (but I tend to think that it's most likely schizophrenia). Only my medical records can show it, but I'm not being sent a complete version.
I was thinking of maybe going to a medical research center related to mental illnesses to get a certain, firm diagnosis (such institutions are supposed to do this where I live), since the obsession about diagnosis is driving me even more insane.
Does this sound like a good idea?
>>16514206
You have, essentially, what they diagnosed you with. Psychology isn't a real science, it's like philosophy, they can just pull whatever out of their ass and interpret you however they would like. That's why it's possible to go to ten different psychiatrists and get ten radically different diagnoses. There is no objective standard or quality control to what they're doing. They just listen to you for an hour, stereotype you based on what they've seen before, and give you a label. It may fit you, it may not. You'll never get a standard diagnosis because it's all so subjective. When I had eating disordered behaviors, I had a period where within a 1 month span I saw 5 different psychiatrists working at different facilities, and got a different eating disorder diagnosis from all of them. One said I did not fit the diagnostic criteria for ANY eating disorders, despite the fact that I met the full criteria for Anorexia Nervosa a week ago according to some other guy. It's all a hoax mate, it's just an industry. They can't help you. If you really do have schizophrenia, just go get your meds and get out before they can lock you up and fuck up your life like what happened to me.
You're just being paranoid here really. I've heard of psychiatrists purposely withholding the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder from BPD patients because apparently it's better treated without them knowing they have it, but I think that's because of how the disorder fundamentally is supposed to be. You more than likely do not have a secret diagnosis, you have what they've told you already.
>>16514308
Alright.
Is there a way to know what diagnosis I have for sure, then?
Since I've been given completely different diagnoses by different pdocs. Most said I was bipolar, however, some said I was schizophrenic or schizo-affective. Some also said that I was autistic.
It really bothers me not to know who and what I am.
And I'm already taking meds and been taking them for a few years now - mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics.
