The Relearning Blog

What are diagnostic labels and why do we use them?

As humans, we label ourselves to create a sense of identity and to make sense of our experience. Labels can help us understand the various facets of ourselves in relation to others and may offer a sense of belonging and community. Labels describe and simplify parts of our identity and might include personality traits, profession, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and many more. 

Diagnostic labels were created to cluster experiences in order to streamline treatment. Anxiety and Panic Disorder, Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder are all labels found in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

Understanding how you experience the label

Diagnosis is the first step of many in managing our labels – whether the labels are lazy and anxious with ADHD or Angry Borderline with Major Depressive Disorder – we need to hone in on how we see the label or diagnosis impacting our lives. 

For the purpose of this, I’m going to use the Lazy ADHD folk as an example. If you align with a different label like the ones above, you can insert that label and look up a list of symptoms and experiences that others have noted and see which ones you align with, and which ones you don’t.

How I see the Lazy ADHD showing up in my life:

Shame (hello label of Lazy)

Perfectionism

Procrastination 

Overwhelm with larger tasks 

Interrupting conversations 

Hyperfocus 

The diagnosis or label of ADHD is not the issue. The issue is that too many people stop there because they lack the support to form a path forward to manage their labels (also the stigma, but I will leave that for another post). There might also be a sense of helplessness that comes with labels. Please understand that regardless of the label you have received from yourself or others, you can (generally) change your brain. Yes, we might need some help to make changes and there are people, places and things to unstick yourself when you are stuck.

How to move forward

Being aware of how your labels show up in your daily life and relationships is an integral step of acceptance and moving forward with the label. Once you develop a sense of understanding awareness, ask yourself the following:

• What part of the ADHD neuro-spicy brain gets in the way of me living the life I want?
• Are there parts of my brain I want to work on or change?
• What parts of my brain do I not want to change?
• What kind of support is realistic financially? Time and capacity-wise? (self-help, group support, therapy, course work, etc.)

Having a neuro-spicy brain is awesome and just like having a neurotypical brain, there are likely areas I can improve upon based on the above list, and just like neurotypicals, I likely have skill deficits I can work on. Making a list of the places you are getting stuck and what support is available to you can be a catalyst in moving forward. 

Feeling motivated to start managing your label in a different way? Email co*****@re*************.com and we will do our best to find the next step for you. 
If you want to learn more about the process of connecting with our therapists and starting therapy, read Getting Started here.

Authored by Annie Amirault MSW, RSW, Psychotherapist & Co-founder of Relearning Human.