Psychiatrists..

[Tiddlesem]

A psychiatrist (on meeting him for first and only time) described me as "pleasantly neurotic" when i asked him what my actual diagnosis was as no one had ever told me. I've always wondered what the hell does that even mean?? Has anyone else ever had a mental health professional say something unusual like this to them?

The term Neurosis isn’t used in psychiatric diagnosis anymore. Was this a recent experience with the psychiatrist OP?

That's definitely not a diagnosis. I'd not like that personally. It sounds so patronising. Can you see a female if you have a choice? And need more support?

I’m a MH nurse and in two minds about this one. On one hand, a psychiatrist may say something like this to a patient if they’re concerned that a diagnosis will do more harm than good. Some patients get very fixated on diagnoses when it’s better just to concentrate on getting better. Not saying this is you, btw, but it is something that can happen.
Conversely, the psychiatrist may not really believe in diagnoses, which is something, unlike in other fields of medicine, it’s actually fair to think. Psychiatric diagnoses can be arbitrary with two clinicians coming to completely different conclusions for perfectly reasonable reasons. For this reason, patients can end up with dozens of different diagnoses and telling patients these isn’t hugely helpful either.
I can see why you feel dismissed though and statements like this are not exactly empowering for people. We should be giving people knowledge not obscuring it. Did you know that you have the right to see your full psychiatric notes on request? You also have the right to be included in diagnostic and clinic letters. If your psychiatrist isn’t willing and you want to know I would request them.

This was roughly 7 years ago but yes definitely not a diagnosis and not appropriate as it has really stuck with me. It felt like he was diminishing the impact of my anxiety. And how could he make that assessment from one meeting of me also.
I understand the argument for and against diagnosis but for me I think it would help me to know what it is I am dealing with so I can seek out the appropriate resources and get the right help as I do believe certain modalities work better with certain conditions.

He even denied that I had social anxiety as my anxiety wasn't solely around social situations but was far far worse when in social situations! Makes no sense to me.