by Deniz Sidali, M.A.
Everyone of us has at one point or another come into contact with people labeling either us or someone we know with a psychological diagnosis. Oftentimes, this form of labeling when used loosely and indiscriminately can be incorrect and downright insulting towards the person being labeled. After a difficult break-up, an ex may refer to his former partner as “crazy”, “psycho”, “borderline”, or “bipolar”, for instance. Even fashion magazines loosely throw around psychiatric diagnoses in articles without actually understanding what they are actually to. This is absolutely one of my biggest pet peeves. But, people continue to loosely throw labels at one another in the form of psychological disorders despite being wrong, offensive, and often politically incorrect.
So why, then, do we need labels in psychology? Well, labels or diagnoses help us to conceptualize our cases, formulate treatment plans, communicate with other practitioners, and enable us to bill for our services. But, I have always questioned the efficacy and veracity of these psychiatric labels we have for our clients. Firstly, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM; now in it’s 5th edition) which is the classification manual utilized in the United States to make diagnoses, is published by the American Psychiatric Association. It is in the form of a categorical model, meaning that it has various categories for mental illnesses (i.e., anxiety disorders, mood disorders, etc.) and lists those disorders that fall under those categories with very specific criteria that an individual must meet. In all my years in the field of psychology, I have yet to meet one client whom I have treated that has neatly fit a DSM classification for a mental illness. These types of labels or diagnoses aren’t great at encompassing the idiosyncratic complexities of each person’s experiences.
However, A dimensional or holistic means of classification does exactly this. For example, although two clients may be depressed, no two depressed people are alike. And that is what these labels fail to show both therapists and clients. Its sometimes very difficult for clients to come in and acknowledge they have a problem. Oftentimes clients have a lot of shame about their psychological problems. Having shame is understandable because society reminds us when we are different by attaching stigmas to mental illness. After all, you cannot easily repair a broken mind as you could a broken bone or excise a tumor. Society instills within us fears that we are damaged and irreparable. So when clients come in stating that they are a horrible, worthless indivduals because they are depressed or have OCD, I typically say these choice words: “Labels are for soup cans, not human beings”. I continue to tell my clients, that first and foremost you are a person. This is where psycho-education is key in therapy. It helps empower clients by raising awareness and decreasing stigmas. Although we may not be able to change how society perceives us (and this is not our goal), we can change how you perceive ourselves and work on accepting ourselves unconditionally (unconditional self-acceptance).
We teach our clients that we can dislike the fact that others hold these stigmas while accepting the fact that others may not change (unconditional other acceptance). This is of utmost importance in treatment. So quit regurgitating that you have depression, OCD, Schizophrenia etc. Don’t allow the condition to define everything about you. Oftentimes clients believe that simply because they experience symptoms throughout the day, they are no longer an individual but instead identify more with the disorder. People may dislike the fact that they have a psychological disorder, but when the opportunity for change and growth exists, they have difficulty envisioning change due to a fear of the unknown. But learning ways to cope with your disorder, and changing the way you think about and perceive situations, can change how you feel and behave. These are realistic and attainable goals. Accepting our strengths and capitalizing on those strengths is a newer trend in psychology research, and the application of this can help boost our resilience when dealing with life’s struggles. Highlighting a client’s weaknesses is often counterproductive, and labels can do just that.
So hopefully, the next time you walk down the aisle in the grocery store to get a can of soup, you will remember this blog and vigorously state, “Labels are for soup cans, not human beings.”
