514: Risks of Mental Health Misdiagnosis with Sarah Fay

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Lucas Rockwood

Love, Detox, Food, Yogabody, Pranayama, Vegan, Selfimprovement, Self-improvement, Relationships, Meditation, Breathing, Education, Emotions, Mental, Vegetarian, Inspiring, Leader, Balance, Motivating, Weightloss, Flexibility, Habits, Health, Motivation, Yoga, Nutrition

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For an elementary school student with severe ADHD, who’s at risk of getting expelled for behavior problems, a proper mental health diagnosis can mean the difference between success or failure with traditional education. In situations like these, we can all understand and appreciate the importance of a medical diagnosis. But what about the rest of us? What if you’re depressed after two years of COVID lockdowns, socially isolated, and feeling lost with your career and life? What if you’re getting anxiety at the grocery store or struggling to make friends in a new city? You might currently have five of nine symptoms required for a mental health diagnosis as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but will that diagnosis actually help or hurt you?

Sarah Fay, my guest on this week’s podcast, has been formally diagnosed with six different conditions ranging from anorexia to generalized anxiety disorder; and based on her research, believes that most labeling practices do more harm than good.

Listen and learn:

Why many children are receiving mental health diagnoses from general practitioners, not psychiatrists
How a mental health label can turn into an identity
Differentiating between situational vs. chronic mental health problems

Links

Sarah’s Site

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Sarah Fay is an author and activist. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time Magazine, The New Republic, The Michigan Quarterly Review and more. She is on faculty in the English department at Northwestern University. Her new book is called, Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're 11 years old and you are unable to sit still in class, you're acting out, you're
0:08.6	speaking out, you're getting in trouble constantly and your teacher sends you to the school
0:12.6	counselor who sends you to a psychologist who diagnoses you with ADHD. That label, that diagnosis
0:21.6	can really be life changing in a positive way. It can mean getting help in school, it can mean
0:26.0	resource, salutations, special teachers. It could even make or break your early education
0:31.6	success. I think in situations like this, most people agree that these labels are really,
0:36.0	really important. These diagnoses are really important. But what about for the rest of us? What
0:40.2	about later on in life? What if you're suffering from terrible depression after two years of COVID
0:46.5	lockdowns after isolation? What if you're just lost with your life and your career? Maybe you have
0:52.8	five of the nine required symptoms to get a clinical diagnosis according to the DSM. Maybe
0:58.8	you qualify for generalized anxiety disorder, clinical depression, maybe bipolar disorder,
1:04.8	maybe borderline personality disorder. The question is, does that label, does that diagnosis
1:10.1	really help you or does it harm you? Of course, the answer is it really depends, but my guest on
1:15.3	this week's podcast, Sarah Faye, she was diagnosed with six different things and her very educated
1:21.6	opinion and experience opinion is that most of the time it does more harm than good. If you're new
1:26.1	here, it's the Lucas Rockwood show. I'm a yoga teacher, a teacher trainer, I'm a serial entrepreneur,
1:30.1	I'm the father of three kids, but first and foremost, I'm a student. So I go out into the world and
1:34.5	find researchers and authors and experts and bring their best work here so we can all live more
1:39.6	informed, inspired lives. If you would like to support the show, just scroll down in whatever
1:44.4	app you're listening on and leave a rating and review. It's very helpful. If you'd like to check
1:49.4	out my science-based yoga videos, go to YouTube and click Yoga Body. I have a channel there and we're
1:54.8	adding new videos every week. If you would like to be on my email newsletter, go to yogabody.com
	...

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