Getting a Mental Health Diagnosis
Mental health issues are common. Every year, millions of people are diagnosed with some kind of behavioral, mental, or emotional disorder, which may or may not cause functional impairment. Depression affects 300 million adults worldwide. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common after disruptive or highly threatening events and is especially abundant in countries affected by conflict and war.
Schizophrenia affects around 1 in 300 people around the world, and while those affected can experience hard cognitive functioning, adequate treatments are increasingly available.
Symptoms of most mental illnesses and the ability to perform improve with treatment, which includes medication, psychotherapy, or techniques like brain stimulation. The existence of efficient treatments makes a strong case for getting a mental health diagnosis.
According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, less than 2/3 of all those having a psychological disorder receive mental health services each year.
Mental Health Diagnosis List
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- PTSD
- Depression
- Personality disorders
- Bipolar disorder
- Eating disorders
- Anxiety disorders
- Agoraphobia
- Claustrophobia
Who can Diagnose Mental Illness?
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor. He diagnoses and treats various mental illnesses.
How to Get a Mental Health Diagnosis?
Getting a mental health diagnosis is not a single-step process. It may contain more than one doctor, generally starting with your primary care physician.
Physical Exam
Before a diagnosis of psychological issues is made, you may need to go through a physical exam to find out a physical condition. Some mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety are due to physical causes.
Other physical conditions such as thyroid problems can also sometimes be misdiagnosed as psychological disorders due to similar or overlapping symptoms; this is why a detailed physical exam is necessary.
Your doctor will take a history and may order lab tests to find out physical issues that cause your symptoms. If your healthcare doctor doesn’t find a physical cause for your symptoms, you’ll more likely be referred to a mental health professional to determine you for a mental health diagnosis.
Personal History
Your doctor also asks you questions regarding your personal history. This will include different areas of your life such as your family relationship, marital status, occupation, and sources of stress.
Mental Health Screening
Your healthcare provider may also conduct a mental health assessment which will involve asking questions about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. You will be asked to explain the symptoms you have been facing including when these symptoms occur, how frequently you have been having them, and to what extent they impact your life. As part of mental health screening, you may also be demanded to fill up different screening questionnaires.
Next Steps
Once physical health problems are ruled out, a PCP can make a diagnosis of mental illness. PCPs are educated to diagnose mental illnesses, such as generalized anxiety disorder and major depression. Sometimes, they prescribe medicines to treat mental illness.
A PCP generally recommend a patient see a psychiatrist for getting a mental health diagnosis. Psychiatrists commonly manage medication and psychotherapists perform talk therapy to treat a mental illness. Before starting treatment, the psychologist who is making a diagnosis will interview the patient. Questions usually focus on history of symptoms, symptoms, and difficulties with functioning.
Family members can be interviewed as well. This is mainly true when a child is being diagnosed with a psychological issue or when an individual is unreliable reporter or has poor insight.
The mental health professional will also notice the patient in the office. Some symptoms can be obvious in the interview, like hyperactivity or low energy. A mental health professional will diagnose a mental illness by using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5). The DSM-5 figures the criteria for each psychological issue.
Mental Illness Diagnosis Test
There can be times when psychological testing is essential. Mental illness diagnosis tests are assessment tools that are managed by psychologists. Some various types of psychological tests that are used to help clarify a diagnosis include:
- Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)
- Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A)
- Schizophrenia Test and Early Psychosis Indicator (STEP)
- Dissociative Experiences Scale
- Goldberg Bipolar Spectrum Screening Questionnaire
- Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale
There are a lot of reasons that a patient may undergo mental testing. Sometimes, testing is necessary to help clarify the diagnosis. Other tests can help identify the IQ of a person or any learning disabilities. Psychological tests may also diagnose dementia and brain injuries.
Psychological tests can be administered by a computer, or they can be written or given orally. They may involve some questions where an individual is asked to give information regarding how often they experience specific symptoms or they may be asked to select statements that best describe how they feel, think, and behave.
How to get a mental health diagnosis online?
Online screening for mental health is one of the easiest and quickest ways to evaluate whether you are facing symptoms of a mental health condition. Mental health conditions, like anxiety or depression, are common, real, and treatable. And their recovery is possible.
Now-a-days, a lot of apps and websites provide the facility of getting a mental health diagnosis online. Talk space is one of them. Talk space provides free mental health tests that require only a few minutes to complete.
How much time does it take to diagnose mental illness?
For common issues like anxiety and depression, your general practitioner can be able to give you a diagnosis after only 1-2 appointments. For less common psychological problems you will need to be referred to a mental health professional (such as a psychiatrist), and they may want to examine you over a longer time before making a diagnosis.