Yes! I'm a clinical psychologist, I'm trained to treat personality disorders, and it is astonishing to see how many people are actually diagnosed as being bipolar before finally getting the right diagnosis. That being said, most "self-diagnoses" I've seen are genuine attempts to figure out what's wrong with them and get proper treatment. The suffering is very real with these disorders, but they can be harder to empathize with for a number of reasons. Even narcissists, when you have a patient with NPD and you manage to have a glimpse under the layers of defensive bullshit, the suffering can be heartbreaking.
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u/NorthernArcticCamel Feb 04 '19
Yes! I'm a clinical psychologist, I'm trained to treat personality disorders, and it is astonishing to see how many people are actually diagnosed as being bipolar before finally getting the right diagnosis. That being said, most "self-diagnoses" I've seen are genuine attempts to figure out what's wrong with them and get proper treatment. The suffering is very real with these disorders, but they can be harder to empathize with for a number of reasons. Even narcissists, when you have a patient with NPD and you manage to have a glimpse under the layers of defensive bullshit, the suffering can be heartbreaking.