Episode 137 - The Pros and Cons of Identifying with Our Diagnosis

This week Edward starts us off by sharing with us some stories from his vacations starting with him losing his voice and being sick. As sometimes happens in our lives this setback created an opportunity for Edward to reconnect with a young man whom he had helped raise. Edward goes on to tell us the trials and tribulations of trying to get an instruction manual printed for a Reiki Class that he taught over the weekend. The class went well, but the lesson learned of letting go was an important one as things kept going in unplanned directions.

So you’ve got a new diagnosis. Now what? In this week's Deep Dive, we discuss the pros and cons of living with a diagnosis. Pathologizing is an act where someone with a diagnosis identifies all behavior with that diagnosis. As humans we tend to over identify with what’s wrong with us. This can take a useful tool, such as a diagnosis, and turn it into an inward focused weapon that can make our healing journey all the more difficult. From the pros of being able to find the correct treatment and support groups to the cons of misidentifying traits as the diagnosis and using it as an excuse for our behavior among other things, we discuss the uses of diagnostic tools and the pitfalls that can come along with them.