How to bring up to therapist

Hello everyone, My therapist cannot diagnose officially, but I want to look into next steps regarding getting an official diagnosis and how to go about that. My husband keeps pushing me to get diagnosed, but I keep getting locked into a thought spiral - telling my therapist would mean telling them about my behaviors, which could lead to judgement or them thinking I’m overreacting; getting referred to someone that can diagnose means calling and getting a primary care physician, which means calling and figuring out what to say, which means sitting in a doctor’s office with sick people, which means bringing up things to a doctor, etc., etc…I just keep psyching myself out. I’ve denied having anything wrong, but have noticed my symptoms are getting worse. How did you go about those first steps, and what was it like? Thank you so much in advance.

Username: brandimcmeowbrandimcmeow

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 27w ago

My therapist I was seeing on Teladoc was the one that diagnosed me with OCD. He then referred me to a psychiatrist on Teladoc who reviewed his notes and prescribed me medication. And he also referred me to NOCD for OCD-specific treatment through ERP. I never saw a PCP.

Username: M123456M123456

Date posted: 27w ago

@brandimcmeow Can I ask what medication? I’m taking a few, always curious if there are things I haven’t tried

Username: brandimcmeowbrandimcmeow

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 27w ago

@M123456 I’m starting at 10mg of Prozac and will go up slowly over the next 8 months to 40mg.

Username: brandimcmeowbrandimcmeow

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 27w ago

@brandimcmeow My psychiatrist said ocd is best treated at 60-80mg of Prozac. We will see if I need to go up to that.

Username: M123456M123456

Date posted: 27w ago

As far as saying things aloud… this is so hard for me. It helps to look away from the therapist when you say things. I also remind myself that this professional has already heard soooo much more than what is inside one person’s (my) mind

Username: ashleyc95ashleyc95

Date posted: 27w ago

My experience was getting medication first from a primary care dr, then getting on here with a therapist who diagnosed me with OCD, depresssion, and GAD. My ocd was so bad at the time that I did have to start medication before therapy.

Username: nicolemw

Date posted: 5y ago

So the fact that i haven’t been officially diagnosed kind of makes my ocd worse. I’ve kind of become positive that I have it. Thinking back now, I can think of a few rituals I did as a child that could be seen as warning signs for OCD, but the debilitating stuff happened about 5 months ago in October. I saw a therapist for about a month and a half but she never gave me an official diagnosis and even though I asked, she just said it hasn’t been long enough to tell. It seemed like she wasn’t helping at all and wasn’t doing anything for me I couldn’t hear off of a forum such as this or an informative YouTube video so I quit going. I had problems this entire time but just this past week it has spiked up to the severity it was when it first started and is once again making me desperate for help! I think I want meds this time so I want to go to my regular doctor and ask. I guess my general question is how should I go about seeking help and can I say I have OCD even if it wasn’t officially told to me? This week has been very debilitating and the fact that I’ve been suffering for 5 months makes me believe this isn’t going to just go away.

Username: raenw

Date posted: 5y ago

I have questions for those of you who have been diagnosed! 1) how did it feel for you when you started telling your friends about your diagnosis? Did you tell your friends and family at all? 2) Before your diagnosis, how did you feel about going to talk to a therapist or a specialist for the first time? Your answers are only for my reference and further understanding! Thank you.

Username: Celi

Date posted: 2y ago

Advice For Someone Undiagnosed

i'm sorry in advance for how long this post is and if it's to much information. i'm undiagnosed but have been struggling with compulsions and intrusive thoughts since i was 7 or 8. My worst intrusive thoughts theme has been about p*d*phil*s. I've been dealing with it since my freshman and sophomore year but these thoughts didn't become debilitating until June of last year. I had a panic attack and confessed to my parents about these intrusive thoughts. They were obviously shocked and share. I felt so ashamed and like a monster. After talking with my dad he said we would see a therapist about it. Sadly we never did the first appointment we were late and missed are spot and the second appointment i sprained my ankle the night before so instead i was in the hospital. After that i closed myself off i tried dealing with them on my own using sources like NOCD and stuff. I did try to bring up going to therapy to my parents. Every time they would ask me if the intrusive thoughts were back and I would lie saying "no i just would like to go to therapy" I was so scared they'd be afraid of me and stop loving me, especially my mom. Eventually after awhile my parents forgot about it and I tried ignoring these intrusive thoughts because I was so focused and stressed from school. I decided I could just wait till I turn 18 and schedule myself into therapy. recently though my intrusive thoughts have gotten worse. I recently had a convo with one of my friends who has intrusive thoughts as well and she's encouraging me to talk to my parents. I'm asking y'all what should I do. As much as I'm scared I want to get help because I'm sick of living and feeling like i'm day away from acting on my intrusive thoughts.

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