I am not necessarily one to talk, considering my list of diagnoses, but does it feel to anyone else like some diagnostic terms are being thrown around? Is it time for some extra critical thinking about calling something a disease?
For instance, something like insomnia or night terrors can be an acute problem. Or it can last for years and then go away. Suffering from insomnia for a year or so during a particularly ruthless work environment does not necessarily mean a person has chronic insomnia. I suffer from insomnia sometimes. I also suffer from night terrors a lot of the time. This has been going on for over 15 years... but it is not a sleep disorder. It just means I sometimes experience these issues. Bouts of insomnia, for me, can last 8 months straight or longer. That is often the result of a medication or a terrible flare up. Night terrors often occur in bursts, for me. There have been several times where they have been relentless for months on end to the point where I require the help of a psychologist. That does not mean I have a particular disorder, it is simply a symptom that can persist.
It is entirely possible to suffer anxiety attacks once in a while. Adulting is brutally difficult and can cause severe anxiety attacks in the most laid-back of people. Heart palpitations, sweaty hands, inability to form a sentence or even breathe properly, thoughts that run through your mind thinking you are about to die, fainting... those are normal symptoms of an anxiety attack. That does not necessarily mean that someone suffers from chronic anxiety or have an anxiety disorder of some kind - especially if there is a legitimate reason to be suffering from an attack. Now if someone does have a legitimate anxiety disorder, I believe it would be quite clear to them.
People can pass out standing up several times in their life and not have narcolepsy.
Someone can suffer with a few seizures in their lifetime and not be diagnosed with a seizure disorder.
Someone can suffer with some awkward social skills, quirks, odd ways of thinking, or even giftedness without having autism or anything under that particular umbrella.
A person may have high cholesterol show up in their bloodwork without being diagnosed with a disease that needs to be constantly monitored.
With physical illnesses, for something to be deemed 'chronic', the symptoms have to persist for a long period of time. For something to be considered a disease, those symptoms must persist very long-term.
There are a few diseases I was diagnosed with and then retracted because the symptoms did not last more than a few years. They disappeared. So it was deemed that it was likely a fluke, went into remission, or was a side effect or symptom of something entirely different. Diseases like Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Sjögren's Disease, Lyme Disease, etc... The PSC was clearly diagnosed with biopsies, scans, and bloodwork, but disappeared after 3 years, and I have not had more than 5 bad sets of liver bloodwork since. So I no longer have that disease. Yes, it is possible that it could return, but it is also just as possible that it was something else altogether. Sjögren's was diagnosed based on bloodwork and severe symptoms of dry mouth and dry eye. Although I still experience some dryness in my mouth and eyes, it is not nearly what it was a few years ago - for approximately 2 years. So I do not say that I have that disease. There is no sign of it now, except a few symptoms that may or may not be associated. Lyme Disease was diagnosed by a few different naturopathic doctors. This is not a disease I ever really believed that I had... but they tried to sell me on it, mostly because we did not have an answer for a few symptoms yet. (We found the answer later via scans and bloodwork... it was not Lyme Disease).
Okay, here comes my point:
When does shyness, for example, require a diagnosis instead of considering it a simple personality trait? When do we draw the line about labeling absolutely every single odd personality trait or symptom? Where is the line between a quirk and a disease? A habit and a syndrome? A behaviour and a problematic illness?
This problem of calling every little thing an illness or a syndrome is adding fuel to the fire of false promises and 'miracle cures'. When we tell everyone who has a couple anxiety attacks during stressful life events that they have anxiety, once they overcome that obstacle, they may tout that it was what they were eating, what exercises they were performing, or a new soap they tried at the time for this miracle of not suffering from anxiety anymore.
On an additional note, self-diagnosing and throwing out syndromes and diseases instead of monitoring symptoms undermines the tireless effort it takes to really, truly, diagnose a legitimate disease. It can almost make a mockery of the process and the utter hell and firey hoops people have to jump through in order for their symptoms and concerns to be taken seriously. I mean, what is the point of trying to find out the real reason why a patient is suffering if you can just tell someone they have 'floating rib syndrome' to get them out of the office and stop complaining.
Why continue searching for an answer if you can simply make up a disease to appease this driving necessity to have a label for absolutely everything?
Have YOU ever been diagnosed with something utterly ridiculous? Or hearing about a disease that does not make sense? Or that used to be considered a quirk?
**I am not complaining about every single diagnosis. I am also not arguing the existence of all diagnosed illnesses. I am just stating that I think labels are being given carelessly just to have a label**