Do you have any self-diagnosed hypochondriacs? - Page 2

Lila Belle · ‎01-24-2013

Why would anyone make fun or light of mental illness ?

sam96 · ‎05-05-2015

Mental illness is definitely something that should never be taken lightly. Those that suffer from mental illness fight a daily battle that normal people can never truly understand or appreciate.

My mother, when she was still with me, suffered from bipolar disorder. However, she was not diagnosed until she was an adult. It took a long time to find the right psychiatrist, and even longer to find the right cocktail of medication, to get her to a balanced mental state.

I shudder to imagine what her short life would have would have been like had I not been there to be her advocate!

What my MIL is doing is not the same. The next big fad will be her new "thing".

Lila Belle · ‎01-24-2013

Are you a psychiatrist?

sam96 · ‎05-05-2015

Clearly not.

Are you?

We have talked to hers, though, in her presence, about this very topic.

Why are you so determined to find fault with this issue?

Lila Belle · ‎01-24-2013

How many people diagnose themselves as hypochondriacs ? Yet you seem to think you are qualified to do so.
You clearly find this amusing and entertaining. I don't.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

First OP - exactly what do you mean by "self diagnosed hypocondriac". A hypocondriac is a person who has a mental illness that makes them believe they have illnesses they do not have. self diagnosed means they figured out what is wrong all by themself - then you go on to describe your MIL who has not self diagnosed anytrhing.

In nursing school we are taught to believe what a patient tells us - if they say they are in pain then we treat that pain, if they say they feel short of breath we ttreat their breathing , if they say they are depressed we treat their depression. Because it is almost impossible to know when someone is faking or is a hypocondriac. For instance - i was going to my PCP for 3 years because I had terrible pain in my rt hip and down my rt leg. He never took an x ray or anything - would lift up my leg and tell me there was nothing wrong with it and I was a hypocondriac. I needed a referral from him to see a specialist but finally decided I would pay cash for the ortho doctor because I really had pain in that hip. When I went to the ortho doc he did an x ray of the hip and you could see my spine on the x ray. I had some serious spine issues that were causing my hip pain and required surgery. He asked me why i waited so long to see him and I told him about the PCP calling me a hypocondriac. He immediately called the PCP and told him what he had found and what an a$$ he was.

sam96 · ‎05-05-2015

@151949 By "self-diagnosed hypochondriac" I mean that as soon as some health-related thing stares becoming news, suddenly she will claim to have symptoms, even though she isn't sure what those symptoms are until she looks them up on the internet (her story changes all the time).

Her doctors run thousands of dollars in tests, confirmed by her nephew (our cousin, a dr) showing nothing wrong. No one ever observes her symptoms. She's always alone when they happen.

The celiac is just the latest. We had the blood test and even the biopsy. All clean. Even the psychiatrist says there's no reason for her behavior...she's got no signs of a major mental health disorder. They've all told her she's fine! In fact, she's in excellent health, and we all want her to celebrate her great gift.

So, when she "sneaks" wheat-based foods almost daily, which you can't do if you're truly a celiac, and keeps insisting she's ill...we say the Drs say you're not! It's just one big circle.

Shorty2U · ‎03-09-2010

No hypochondriacs in the family. But someone I used to work with went out with back issues and now she has dreamed she has cancer, lupus and a list of other diseases which all come back negative in testing and her back? Well suddenly that didn't bother her but now everything else does.

And I don't want to be mean, but frankly I think she is scamming the place she worked at because she has been on medical leave with full pay for 2 years!

When I had my spine surgery I got 120 days off, and I was fired when I couldn't go back to work anymore (Drs orders), and I have 11 MRIs (over the years) of various damage to my entire spine.

So I don't get how she is getting away with this and frankly I don't talk to her anymore because of it. I tried to be her friend and help her but she made excuse after excuse and kept dreaming up diseases that werent there.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make~ The Beatles