Pros/Cons of Formal Diagnosis

Below are a list of pros/cons of formal medical diagnosis:

Without a formal medical diagnosis, you won’t be able to:

• Apply for formal accommodations at school or work

  • You can still have a human-to-human discussion with your direct supervisor to request informal support that will help you (they may will say no).

• Use health insurance to pay for mental health care

  • You can still access mental health care by using a different DSM-V diagnosis (one that does not require a neuropsychological evaluation) or by paying out-of-pocket or using HSA/FSA funds, many providers are willing to extend reduced rates (it may still be prohibitively expensive).

With a formal medical diagnosis, you might not be able to:

• Apply to certain jobs in the future.

  • Some jobs - such as pilots, military personnel, and those with special security clearances - are inaccessible to prospective applicants with certain medical or psychiatric diagnoses. 

• Visit certain countries in the future.

  • Some countries still discriminate against prospective visitors or immigrants based on medical diagnoses (ex: VISA and immigration paperwork)

Below is a list of lifestyle changes you can make, with or without a formal medical diagnosis, to achieve health-ease, mental wellness, and a values-aligned lifestyle:

Accept and accommodate your authentic self

• Your strengths and weaknesses are worthy of support.

• All of your quirks and flaws deserve prioritization & compassion.

Unlearn and replace disempowering belief systems

• Such as internalized ableism, productivity and urgency culture, and other neuronormative and capitalist values. 

Map your triggers and learn how to emotionally regulate

• Emotional regulation includes: situational selection, situational modification, attentional deployment, cognitive restructuring, and response modulation (Gross, 1998).

Adopt new paradigms and build new skills 

• Explore new perspectives to generate openness and curiosity

• Learn skills: executive functioning, regulation, motivation, etc.

Request informal accommodations and support 

• Access available support to minimize scarcity & unpredictability while maximizing abundance & predictability. 

Change your lifestyle, environment, and social context 

• Build sustainable self-care routines, prioritize your needs.

• Access supports to minimize scarcity and unpredictability

Below is a list of skills you can build, with or without a formal medical diagnosis, to achieve health-ease, mental wellness, and a values-aligned lifestyle: 

Somatic - body-based self-soothing strategies 

• Understand sensory sensitivities, nervous system patterns

• Build interoceptive attunement, practice co-regulation 

Emotional - awareness, self-regulation, and maturity 

• Emotional regulation: situational selection and modification, attentional deployment, cognitive restructuring, response modulation (Gross, 1998). 

Cognitive - flexibility and openness to new perspectives

• Practice cognitive reappraisal to generate openness to alternatives

• Build executive functioning, decision-making, and motivational skills

Social - Authentic connection and communication

• Find authentic connection and belonging in your social context

• Practice assertive and values-aligned expressive communication 

• Explore receptive social communication patterns to identify inauthentic miscommunication (masking, camouflaging, fawning, etc.) 

Behavior - self-care routines and social supports 

• Access health-ease through sustainable self-care routines

• Set boundaries with yourself and others to achieve balance

• Maximize abundance & predictability by accessing support

Below is a list of Self-Enquiry questions to reflect on to explore your experience with internalized ableism and identify the ways in which formal diagnosis might harm and help you. 

Friendly reminder: the goal of Self-Enquiry is to generate curiosity and openness about your experiences, not to find answers. 

What does a self-identification of neurodivergence help me access, obtain, achieve, or allow for myself? 

• You may believe self-ID is required to extend self-compassion 

What does a self-identification of neurodivergence prevent me from accessing, obtaining, achieving, or allowing? 

• It may prevent you from accessing formal and informal support.

• You may feel resistant to utilizing an alternative model to describe your experiences (especially true for those with diagnostic privilege, or symptoms that align with DSM-V diagnostic criteria and result in formal diagnosis). 

What does a formal diagnosis of a DSM-V disorder help me access, obtain, achieve, or allow for myself? 

• You may desire formal workplace or school accommodations

What does a formal diagnosis of a DSM-V disorder prevent me from accessing, obtaining, achieving, or allowing? 

• You may internalize an ableist and pathologizing perspective

• You may begin to view yourself as disordered, deficient, maladaptive, abnormal, undeserving, or inferior to others