Therapist Rebeccah Silence argues that the DSM can over-pathologize normal distress, turning a label into a fate. A cancer survivor with a 5% survival rate while pregnant, she insists a diagnosis doesn't define you. You're not broken. You have power.
Nothing is wrong with you. I'm trying to diagnose you, but I won't because nothing is wrong with you. And the way the DSM works is so general, and on anybody's bad day, there are multiple diagnoses that could haunt you, define you, and become your fate, your destiny, if you believe it. Now, I'm not saying mental illness isn't real, and I'm not saying that there aren't real symptoms going on. I'm a cancer survivor. At 34, I was pregnant, had the life of my dreams, thought I had beat my past, and I was given 5% chance to live. A diagnosis wasn't going to be my crisis or the rest of my life. It became an opportunity to be who I said I was, to become who I knew I was capable of being. There was nothing to do. There was just making sure that a diagnosis didn't become who I believed I was or what the rest of my life was going to become. You aren't a diagnosis. You aren't broken. Not a goddamn thing is wrong with you. You are so much more powerful than you realize. You are so much more powerful than any circumstance. And you are so loved and so lovable. And there's so much possible for you if you'll step into who you will and can be in the face of whatever it is. Love you. Follow me for more.
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