Should there be a general NOS diagnosis?

Post Reply New Topic

I don't know if this will make sense. I'll try my best to explain this idea. I know that NOS stands for not otherwise specified. There are many people that have obvious challenges, but can't fit into one diagnosis. They either get misdiagnosed with a disorder that doesn't really fit them or they receive no support. Do you think there should be a general diagnosis for people who require support, but don't fit into any definable category?

I can't really answer that question, but in my case it was like this that I searched for years until I mostly found the right combination. There are still one or two things I'm not totally sure about. So I Would guess that in some cases the right combination is hard to find, especially when you have traits from several different disorders. I think that it is possible that some ppl are undiagnosable but I'm not really convinced, because several hundred psychiatric disorders are known at the moment. My personal opinion is that the mainproblem is, why some can't find the right dx or dx combination, because most psychiatrists don't take their time finding the right dx and also most are just experienced in a handfull of disorders they try to fit in all their patients in many cases.

I agree that most psychiatrists don't take enough time to find the right diagnosis. I have the same problem with general doctors and optometrists. I do think a general NOS diagnosis would be useful for undiagnosable or more complicated people. I think this diagnosis would reduce the amount of people misdiagnosed with ADHD, BPD or autism.

I looked it up, because I remembered that at least in the ICD-10 there is such a diagnosis allready: ICD-10 F99 Mental disorder, not otherwise specified
I don't know the DSM-5 well enough to tell if such a diagnosis exists there too.
But I've never ever seen this diagnostic label in use.
Donald J. Cohen and other researchers actually think that ppl who don't fit well in any diagnostic category have in many cases McDD (Multiple complex developmental disorder - synonym: MDD: Multiplex Developmental Disorder): http://childstudycenter.yale.edu/autism ... n/mdd.aspx

MDD seems to fit me, but I kind of hope it doesn't. I don't want to be considered psychotic.

It has the potential for misuse...

I know. One way to prevent misuse is to encourage people to seek a more precise diagnosis. I know that getting diagnosed with any condition can be expensive. Maybe people with that diagnosis could get a lot of funding towards getting a more precise diagnosis, or at least a clearer picture of how severe their symptoms are and how their brain works.

I read myself into McDD a while ago and it's a very complex topic with not that much research. I once thought too that I've McDD, at least I thought about the possibility, but I'm not that convinced anymore. It doesn't get dx that often, but Yale does some research into it and also in the Netherlands it's a normal diagnosis, they did a lot of research into it.
Also ppl with McDD have a lot more emotional problems than ppl with ASD.

I'm not 100% sure what to think about McDD, but I would like to get tested, but sadly the next Pscyhiatrist I could find who is experienced in it, is in the Netherlands or Belgium and I'm in suthern Germany.

I think I have more emotional problems than the average person with ASD. I get anxious over little things that I know that most people aren't anxious about. I also can get very bad panic attacks where I get hypomaina after the panic attack and then crash very horribly afterwards. When I crash I get the worst depression ever. Luckily that depression has never lasted more than three days.
I also have belief systems that some people might interpret as delusional. I never get hallucinations, so I don't think I'm psychotic.

Apparently people with McDD don't have as much "stereotyped behavior" or social deficits as people with ASD. That fits me as well because my only "stereotyped behaviors" are special interests and some stimming. I don't have to stick to a routine like most ASD people do. I actually enjoy positive and neutral routine changes.

I seem to be able to read body language and social cues, but it's impossible to know how good I am at it. I still have difficulty forming close relationships with most people. I just feel like I don't fit into most groups. When I can fit into a group I barely notice any social problems.

I know that I can turn paranoid under certain circumstances. On a normal level I'm not and I still know when I'm paranoid, but it's still scarry. But I didn't have that as a child. I didn't have the schizo-stuff as a child, just mainly the normal ASD-problems. So that's why I doubt McDD and think it's more schizotypal PD. But I don't know enough about it. I also don't fit in the typical ASD symptoms, it's more traits together with Tourettes and certain ADHD symptoms.