Getting diagnosed .. ?

strooooble · Newbie User Joined: Aug 12, 2008 Posts: 2

Hello from another Newbie.
I'm twentyseven years old and I think I've been suffering from AvPD for quite some time now without knowing it. I haven't been diagnosed and until recently not been treated for any of my issues. I've been seeing a counsellor for a few months now.
I stumbled onto the AvPD section on Wikipedia almost by pure accident, and when I started reading a hundred mental boxes where ticked. All that was going through my head was "This is so me!"..
Anyway. I am debating whether or not to tell my boss. I would like him to know about it so he understands why I sometimes don't measure up to his expectations, why I shy away from certain things. Why I ended up having a panic attack and spent six weeks at home last year.
However, I can't just go and tell him if I have no 'evidence' to back this up with, I need someone to certify that I am really suffering from this disorder and it's not just something I'm making up because I don't want to call meetings and so on.
Someone asked me the other day if I was really sure that this is what I had? And I said yeah. Looking back now I have been showing the same behavior patterns for years. I just bought a book off amazon and will read up on it some more. But I really need to talk to someone qualified to assess me. How did you guys get diagnosed? Where can I go?

Any help or advice is much appreciated. Smile

Schmoo · Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:00 pm Post subject:

When I read this, alarm bells went off. I had a really bad experience telling someone (about another mental hlth issue), & that person ended up blabbing to several others despite promising not to. It was pretty traumatizing.

But of course, I don't know your situation. If you have a mature, understanding boss, maybe it would be ok. He probably already suspects something. It would help if you were able to get a diagnosis from a professional, if you need to really convince your boss. Any psychologist, I would think, would have the capacity to diagnosis you. You may also want to research your rights and look up company info on their policy re: disabilities, etc.

Persos · Newbie User Joined: Oct 04, 2008 Posts: 10

Psichologists can't diagnose. Only psichiatrists can talk about conditions. The difference between them is that a psichiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental health and disorders. So you should find a psichiatrist in your local hospital or somewhere, I don't know, so he or she could give you official diagnosis and proper treatment in form of psychotherapy and medication. I strongly suggest you do so.
And I wouldn't hurry on telling you boss. I think that would be a mistake. Of course I think everybody at your work understands that you are shy and sensitive (you can't hide that) and I suggest you to keep that way. Talking about mental conditions and disorders like avoidant or social phobia I think won't bring you a promotion or pay rise. They might behave with you differently, like be more gentle, but don't expect everybody to act that way if they find out about your condition. Also most people don't know much about these disorders so they might think that you're a bit crazy or something like that. If I were you I would try to hide diagnosis from boss and coworkers if they're not very good friends. Telling that you are shy and that you don't feel comfortable in social situations would be OK, but I suggest you don't mention mental conditions or something about taking medication. At least in my country and all Eastern Europe there are a lot of stigmas about mental health and people don't want "crazy" people around them. At least this is my suggestion.

Azahara · Intermediate User Joined: Oct 01, 2008 Posts: 118