Other than having a very good knowledge of symptoms, does anyone know how a psychiatrist would diagnose a patient? Like the procedures they use, how they can be certain their diagnosis is correct etc etc
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They all follow the DSM criteria and diagnose from there. I think it is up to dsm 5 now. Nothing more nothng less. it is not magic, they look for symptoms and guess from there much akin to a General practioner in a surgery.
Their skill comes from the knowledge of the anti-psychotic medicines they apply and it is still haphazard. Psychiatry is mostly guessworks and style of psychiatrist.
Good luck!
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They take a history and see if the symptoms meet the various criteria for a mental disorder. Mental health disorders have certain signs and symptoms. By talking to the patient, reviewing records, and gathering information from people who know the patient these can be confirmed or disconfirmed. In addition there are psychological tests that help with diagnosis just as laboratory tests help with physical illness diagnosis.
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(Sorry for the rant 
)
Well they can’t be certain-certain they got the right diagnosis. They just go by symptoms and behaviour as they are perceived.
Take myself, I was smoking weed and on/off using fairly high doses of amps for months. I told them this and said “you misdiagnosed me…it’s either weed psychosis or depression with psychotic symptoms “. But they ignored me.
I still question my diagnosis, and my constant questioning it has finally made them say “ok, but the main thing is that the AP helps, so you’re stuck with a sz diagnosis “.
I’ve been in the hospital a dozen times in two years, and I have a lot of the symptoms (yet very mild and rare voices and visuals)…so I’m probably a schizophrenic.
Just remember that these are labels! It’s not like schizophrenia is written into the universe, it’s a damn label, that’s all. I haven’t met a schizophrenic that had the same symptoms as any other sz I’ve met.
In short, it’s a label and that’s it. We’re all crazy in different ways and you could’ve ended up with a different diagnosis easily. Story: A guy I just met in hospital is waaay more delusional than me and he just got his diagnosis switched from sz to weed psychosis. It’s strange…If I wanted to i know a pdoc that thought I just had ptsd, I could go to the hospital he works at and get my diagnosis removed pretty quick. Second opinions…rarely the same as the guy before
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It’s basically educated guesswork.
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the uncertainty and subjectiveness in psychiatric diagnosing is what draws me to want to be in the field…i love that its not concrete and a patient isnt necessarily B because they’re diagnosed with it, maybe theyre C or A instead
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dsm, experience and more advanced knowledge of the various disorders.
Reading the dsm isn’t enough, that is why many people read things on internet and self-diagnose themselves wrongly, you need to know what these symptoms really mean and what is the severity that makes them a disorder.
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