A psychiatric diagnosis is a complex thing. For some people, they are curious to know whether their difficulties might be conceptualised within a diagnostic framework, and find it a helpful concept in terms of making sense of their difficulties. For others a diagnosis is a limiting and unhelpful label.
As a clinician I am guided by what will be most helpful to my clients. I find there are times when understanding a person’s difficulties in relation to diagnostic criteria can be useful. But it will only ever tell you so much. Two different individuals might technically meet criteria for Generalised Anxiety Disorder. But their actual experience and the particular difficulties they struggle with might be very different. This is what I’m more interested in exploring.
If an individual is curious to know whether their experience would meet diagnostic criteria for any particular condition then I’m willing to explore this. Equally if they have been previously diagnosed by another professional, and they have found this makes sense in terms of their experience of their difficulties, I will take this into account during my assessment. Either way, I think it is important to hold any diagnosis ‘lightly’.