Chapter 7: Diagnosed Disconnect – Prescribed Harm

I love to write, having previously shared my lived experience of mental health in articles, essays and talks. I’ve always focused on emotional hurt and healing with only passing reference to diagnosis. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this book as the theme allows me to examine the impact that diagnosis and subsequent treatment had on my recovery. As a personal narrative, what follows is not an argument for or against diagnoses or treatment choices for other people. I simply relay my own experience and interpretation of it, as only I am qualified to do.

To highlight the most glaring omission of psychiatric diagnosis, I will briefly share my backstory as a starting point. Surely, this is important to understand any story. Traits of my character, relevant to ‘mental health challenges’ were evident in early childhood. I was always highly intuitive, empathic and sensitive. As a perfectionist and high achiever, I was self-critical, readily accepting responsibility to make things better. I was also intelligent and creative. An active mind, unbound by the realms of possibility, meant my imagination provided escape from any hurt I felt. Possibly because of these traits, insomnia, vivid dreams and nightmares are some of my most abiding childhood memories.