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#<- putting those two tags because Jesus Christ I've seen a lot of fearmongering from the new baby wave of these movements
switchcase · 1 year
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Causing fear about what happens during and post diagnosis for any condition by lying about it is not any type of disability advocacy
A lot of people online lie about both diagnostic and treatment processes and at times it is very obvious (or outright stated) that the people who are claiming these sorts of things have never been to the professional they're talking about. This is not to be any sort of "anti-self dx" post, simply that if you are this person you should consider not making PSAs about how diagnosis gets you put on govt lists or gets your rights taken away immediately.
Instead talk about patient rights, patient advocacy, and your local laws!
The most important one being that in the USA there is no govt list of disabled people that gets updated the minute you get a diagnosis. Your human rights are not just yoinked the minute you leave the Dr's office.
The ONLY people who know about your diagnosis are: the Dr who assessed you, and IF you used insurance AND the Dr submitted the diagnostic code to the insurance company, the insurance company will know. 1) you can REQUEST your Dr leave off the diagnostic code if you want to and 2) not going through health insurance may be more expensive but if you ARE very worried about your insurance knowing you can simply not use it.
Those are the only people who know! The ONLY way your diagnostic information can be shared to literally anyone else, including your primary care provider or any other Dr or the govt: 1) you sign a release of information for your medical records to be released to another person/dr, 2) you are submitting your diagnostic paperwork Somewhere to receive accommodations/assistance (for school/work, SSDI/SSI, etc--even then they will ONLY know the diagnoses you gave them), 3) you told them, 4) the court orders your medical information for an active court case (divorce etc), 5) a HIPAA violation where the dr/clinic doing the assessment illegally gives your information to anybody else without your permission. You can sue over this, as well as get their license revoked by reporting them to both the state and federal licensing boards for their profession.
As far as human rights are concerned, the main issues are in conservatorships, child custody, and medical abuse/neglect. Some things (like marriage issues and having 'too much money') are strictly SSI related which many disabled people are not on. Conservatorships and child custody issues are NOT based on your diagnosis! You can literally have this issue with conditions that many people on here overlook such as depression or GAD. These are based on severity of symptoms and someone trying to claim you are very ill. Meaning you can provide evidence that you do not need conservatorship, need a DIFFERENT conservator, or are able to care for your child either with or without assistance. Medical neglect/abuse is a big human rights issue but again this is NOT based on diagnosis, this can happen to anybody. You can also sue and report these incidents to revoke a professional's license.
While yes certain highly stigmatized conditions (both physical and mental) are more prone to experiencing these issues, telling people that if they seek help at all they will lose their rights and bad things will happen to them is unforgivable levels of fear mongering. There is not a diagnosis that will automatically revoke your human rights. Especially when it comes to mental health where many therapists will treat you while never putting a diagnosis down on paper because MANY therapists are aware of those issues and will not list a diagnostic code by default unless you request it for reasons like disability hearings.
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