How a misdiagnosis sent me to psychiatric hospital | BBC Ideas

When Hannah Farrell lost her ability to speak and function, doctors thought she was mentally ill. In fact, her symptoms had a physical cause. Here she tells her story, whilst we explore how our physical and psychological health are inextricably linked.

Made by Ewa Headley, in partnership with @TheOpenUniversity.

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[zach]

I was emotionally and physically abused by both my parents and older brother when I was growing up. Got bullied a lot all the way through public school in a small farming community in middle America because I was smart and didn't know how to hide it. Started having psych problems at age 17. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 20. I'm now 43. I have found therapy to be almost pointless as no therapist I've ever talked to over the last 23 years even wants to discuss my childhood as soon as they see that schizophrenia diagnosis. As far as hallucinations go, they were always the voices of my abusers but never like out there. When my doctor asked me if I "heard voices", I said yes. I never realized at that point that everyone hears thoughts in their head. These thoughts are what I was hearing. I did have a psychiatrist suggest a more accurate diagnosis could be C-ptsd a year ago. I wish I could have stayed her patient but because of circumstances I had to change doctors when I moved two states away. Long story short, I couldn't work because of crippling anxiety and ended up on disability pension in my late 20s. I wonder if all of this could have been avoided if not for that likely wrong schizophrenia diagnosis. My first psych doctor didn't bother to ask me if I was abused as a kid. Back then I thought physical and emotional violence were normal parts of raising children. It's possible I lost my childhood to an abusive family and my adulthood to a bad diagnosis.

[mikeodee]

misdiagnosis happens alot with mentall illness and alot of health problems

[josephelias]

After suffering repeated abusive head trauma as a child I have spent decades being diagnosed with various mental disorders whilst simultaneously falling behind in school, withdrawing from basically everything due to extraordinary pain and pressure. Not to mention physical changes to the jaw etc.

Yet it continues, mental health etc etc

[anastasiosdimtsis]

Psychiatrists are never held to account!!

[stella]

Maybe start by listening to the patient and stop assuming all patients lie - they just don't speak your professional language and please stop this habit of making the illness the fault of the patient when it is usually the lack of knowledge and experience that is at fault- it leaves patients with no confidence!

[garrybrown]

The book "Brain on Fire" by Susannah Cahalan, New Your Post writer, describes her own diagnosis of anti-NMDA encephalitis. As a physician, I suspect there are many more misdiagnosed cases of encephalitis. Keep spreading the word. GJBrownDO 1/12/2023 10:30 Eastern

[therabbithat]

Whatever about knowing more about encephalitis, why would a GP assume something is psycho-somatic or what they used to call "hysteria" without ruling out other causes?

When people go to the emergency room with severe chest pain, they don't tell them "it's a panic attack, go home and make an appointment with a counsellor".. they check!

[givusabell]

The autoimmune disorder patient population are full of people misdiagnosed as mentally ill for years, decades, before receiving correct diagnoses. A cursory once over of a patient’s notes is not the same as ruling out physical causes & the idea that NHS psychiatrist routinely do anything more than this is rubbish. Patients of these clinics bear the consequences of poor NHS MH training & its 2nd rate MH services which offer emergency inpatient services for violent & withdrawing patients or being off rolled to GP’s who can only conduct perfunctory medication reviews. Shameful.

[aethylwulfeiii]

There seem to be loads of psychological diseases that are being diagnosed as psychiatric: narcolepsy, kleine Levine syndrome, thyroid things, it’s probably the piggery harm beionn no f Diane in medicine is assuming things are psychiatric first, and biological last, when every standard practice says it needs to be the other way round.

[abcdefuxkk]

drs save many lifes as they ruin sooo many lifes also.. they think they know everything but absoloutyly not .. i learn also in hard way ..

[lindawiker]

Mental illness is one of the easiest to diagnose. The behaviors are TEXTBOOK and don’t change.