I hear a lot of people say that psychiatrists just give you a checklist of symptoms and diagnose you based on what you checked off. That idea is commonly used as an excuse to self-diagnose. As someone who’s been seeing psychiatrists since I was twelve, I would just like to say fuck off. By saying that, you’re undermining the work they actually put into their long term patients.
A psychiatrist will give you a checklist of symptoms during intake. That first time you meet your psychiatrist. The reason they do this is because they need a general idea of the things you’re experiencing and the issues they may need to address. This is not what they initially use to diagnose you.
A diagnosis is made by the patient addressing their symptoms and talking about the things that happened to them in the past or even happen in their day-to-day life. The patient, when being honest and accurate, will discuss anything bothering them, namely, emotions, thoughts, or actions. To receive an accurate diagnosis, the patient needs to be as thorough as possible. This may take weeks to months, or even years. It isn’t always, but it can be a very lengthy process. This is why you can’t just see a psychiatrist two or three times and then say that they weren’t doing their job. They’re not at fault for that, you are.
Even when they do give you a diagnosis early on, they’re still going by what you tell them. They may start with the most common disorders first and work their way up as they gather information from you. This is why people are commonly misdiagnosed with various types of depression.
They can only diagnose you based on what you tell them. So yes, they do give you a checklist of symptoms, but that’s to get a broad idea. This is not their actual diagnosis tool.
Quit undermining the efforts of good psychiatrists.
ok kids, sleep is v important and we hardly ever get enough of it these days so listen up and jot down some notes.
don’t study while you’re sleepy.
go get some shut-eye. a 30 minute nap at most, you’re gonna feel really refreshed, trust me.
if you’re studying late at night. just stop. go sleep. set your alarm at 4am and do your work in the morning. it’s way better to feel energized while you’re studying than feel like a zombie.
worst case scenario, you’re desperate for time, go get some coffee, and down it right before you take a 20 minutes nap. once the 20-minute is up, the caffeine will officially enter your system and you’ll be good to go for at least 2 hours.
pay your sleep debt.
make up for lost time and hibernate in your bed once you get the chance, especially during the weekends. you’ll be so thankful is2g and you’ll be recharged and rebooted for the next week or so.
take every chance and nap whenever you have time on your hands. life is extremely fast-paced and you will be thankful you spent that 1 hour getting some zzz’s instead of scrolling through social media when you get a new assignmemt, trust me.
hit your hours every night
whatever you do to make up for the nights you burned the midnight oil, the best way is still to get your much-needed hours of sleep every night. just put down the phone and burrow into your blanket, you won’t be complaining about not getting the chance to stalk taylor swift when you try to hit snooze next morning. [yes i know what y’all are up to every night]
sprinkle a bit of lavender essential oil, set the room to the right temperature, wear your most comfortable pj’s, convince yourself that you’ll have the needed energy to face your history assignment when you wake up. stop the nerves and calm yourself so you won’t waste time counting sheep for hours trying to fall asleep.
work before the sun comes out
it’s so much better to just go to bed early at night and wake up early in the morning to do work. ditch your 12 - 7 sleep schedule for a new 9 - 4 one. working in the early morning is so much more beneficial and you should at least try it out once or twice to really experience how much better it is.
i know this isn’t really a lot but here’s my mini stash of tips anyway! i hope i’m able to help some of you out! y’all can drop ur requests here and see more of my tips here.
i. ii.iii.About
