#if youre reading these tags i hope ur day goes well 💛

[thescreamcorner]

Some things I think more people self suspecting/self diagnosing (especially for DID/OSDD, but also in general) should be aware of:

-it's okay if you're wrong. it's completely okay if your symptoms turn out to be caused by something else. your experiences aren't automatically fake just because they aren't clinically part of a medical condition.

-take time to figure out what your experiences are and how to describe them outside of a diagnostic term. This not only reduces your risk of imprinting false symptoms and helps you better understand your actual ones, but also gives you a headstart to having productive conversations with a healthcare team about seeking evaluations.

-with dissociative and trauma disorders, it can be incredibly hard to trust that your care team is listening and taking your concerns seriously. it can also be hard to trust your own judgement and know if your doctor is actually a bad fit or not. I highly recommend resources online for "when is a doctor a bad fit?", as some have a thorough checklist to consider that helps figure out if it's time to switch providers.

-diagnosis taking 6+ years is often statistically misconstrued; that time frame usually accounts for the entire time between starting in the mental health system and reaching an accurate diagnosis when a patient doesn't raise concerns about a dissociative disorder. if your healthcare team is good and you present specific requests to evaluate for trauma and dissociation related disorders, diagnosis can come as fast as 1-2 years from the time of starting with a new psychiatrist and therapist, depending on availability and radius of services.

-if you're on government health insurance, you can call your local psychology providers and ask what HMOs they accept, and if they know which of those HMOs will provide full coverage of services. You can then change your HMO to one that covers most of, if not all, of your visits and medications going forward.

-recovery may look different for everyone, but it should still always be the goal. Not everything has a cure, but that doesn't mean you should actively avoid taking steps to better cope with your symptoms. Recovery also isn't linear, and it's important to give yourself empathy and room to make mistakes and flow through the struggles.

-you deserve to feel better and heal through whatever traumas you've suffered. You also deserve to eat and have water, and to rest. Find time for these things and remember there's always someone here for you.

Anyone reading this who needs someone to reach out to, know my DMs are open and I'm happy to listen and give honest but kind feedback.