Uncertain Diagnoses and Your Mental Health

If you’ve ever been through the trials of trying to find a diagnosis for an unknown ailment, you understand just how frustrating and draining the process can be. Numerous doctor visits, hospitals, appointments, and specialists may be required to properly diagnose an unknown medical condition. Meanwhile, while you are waiting for an accurate diagnosis, the ailment continues to cause the symptoms that prompted the numerous doctor visits in the first place, and helpful treatment is delayed until the issue can be fully named and assessed.

Unfortunately, this back and forth process, this uncertainty, and the symptomatic pain always present with an undefined condition can contribute to other concerning mental health issues as well. Doubt can be a damaging feeling, as you may begin to doubt the validity of your pain, symptoms, and ailment. This doubt causes considerable feeling of unrest and fear, and can contribute to the development of other mental health issues such as panic, anxiety, and depression. It is therefore imperative to take particular care of your mental health when undergoing the process of diagnosing a difficult condition, and to be aware of how the process effects you, mentally and emotionally.

Additionally, if you are not making diagnostic progress with a specific doctor, you may consider trying different physicians. If another physician can readily diagnose you where a previous could not, this may be the fault of the physician and not the fault of the complexity of your symptoms or condition. In such cases, as the Tucson medical malpractice attorneys of Russo, Russo, & Slania, P.C. note, these experiences may leave you with considerable emotional and financial trauma in addition to the already existing physical harm. The trauma of misdiagnoses is similar to that of a long awaited or uncertain diagnoses, making attention to mental health a top priority in all cases. Inattention to mental matters in lieu of emphasis on the physical ailment may leave you in an even sicker state, so stay equally attentive to your mental as well as physical health and symptoms as you pursue a diagnosis and treatment.

Delayed Diagnosis as Medical Malpractice



