The Mental Health Issue Most People Don’t Know They Have

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There is a diagnosis called “Adjustment Disorder” that mental health professionals use regularly for clients who don’t have all the symptoms of a serious mental illness. Simply put, an adjustment disorder is diagnosed when an individual is stressed out from something or having trouble functioning and there isn’t another mental health disorder to explain that stress or trouble functioning. The distress can be in response to most things from difficulty in school, to divorce, to loss of a loved one. As you might imagine, this broad description applies to a lot of people. This can make the diagnosis a fairly controversial one among clinicians.

Here’s what’s not helpful about it:

Adjustment Disorder is seen among some therapists as a “cop-out” diagnosis because it’s not necessarily an accurate description but it’s not necessarily wrong either. Some clinicians use it as a placeholder until they can understand the presenting issues more fully.

It gives the sense that the mental health community is pathologizing stress. This runs the risk that the client feels ashamed for experiencing the stress in the first place, but stress is a completely normal reaction for someone to have in response to a stressor.

Insurance companies require therapists to diagnose clients. If the diagnosis is unclear or doesn’t seem to be a more serious mental illness, then a clinician will typically resort to this one. This creates an issue because not all clients who come to therapy need a diagnosis, and yet they do need the diagnosis in order to be covered under health insurance.

Here’s what’s helpful about it:

It’s important to have language to substantiate that what you’re going through is real. Some people really have trouble acknowledging that the stress they experience is impacting them. For these people, the label can feel really validating.

Some people live in families or cultures that stigmatize mental health and having a diagnosis can help legitimize their experience and cope in social situations that feel unsupportive.

Many people can only access mental health treatment with insurance coverage, so the existence of this diagnosis can provide greater access to care. As short-sighted as it is for insurance companies to limit mental health coverage based on the existence of a diagnosis, it is the system we currently have. This is our best tool until these systems are ready for a larger conversation about what mental health is and isn’t.

If you think you may have Adjustment Disorder, here is a link to learn more about the symptoms. Remember to consult with a therapist for guidance if you would like a professional opinion.

Have you had an experience with Adjustment Disorder? Let us know in the comments!

I am a licensed psychotherapist who likes science and spirituality. Tune in next week for new insights!