Misdiagnoses Can Curb the College Experience

College students facing mental health crises are often misdiagnosed and it harms their  ability to receive proper care. According to the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, the prevalence of mood disorders such as depression and anxiety continues to rise each year, especially among 18-29-year-olds. 

While it’s true that many young people are developing mood disorders at a higher rate than in previous decades, a seemingly significant number of young adults receive the incorrect diagnoses or are told they have a disorder when they are, in fact, perfectly healthy.

Recent studies show that misdiagnosis in young adults can be caused by diagnostic criteria that fails to account for context or a lack of distinction between poor sleep habits and cognitive issues, according to the National Library of Medicine and the Oxford Academic Journal. Imagine this: you visit a psychiatrist and complain that you’ve felt lethargic and emotional for the past six months, and you don’t know why. But the psychiatrist doesn’t ask you whether there have been any major changes to your diet or exercise. Or, you see a psychiatrist and complain that you’ve struggled with a lack of focus and emotional regulation for your entire school career, but they don’t ask whether you get enough sleep. 

Without the proper context, these issues look like depression and ADHD respectively. When doctors are too quick to diagnose, issues that could be fixed with simple lifestyle changes can morph into a potentially lifelong serious diagnosis and a prescription for medication that won’t work. And when the medications don’t work, it only makes the person suffering struggle more and further wonder what’s wrong with them. 

Kristina Otfinoski, an MSU alumna who graduated in Dec. 2021, was told by a mental health counselor during her time in college that she had anxiety, autism and ADHD. She has since seen a psychiatrist who told her none of those diagnoses seem accurate. She said that she believes receiving these diagnoses held her back from learning how to recover from the issues she faced during college. 

“Overall, all the doctors I saw were quick to diagnose, but not careful enough to actually ask enough about my background, how I grew up, what was going on in my family at the time,” Otfinoski said. “I’m not saying I never struggled, but to give someone these really intense diagnoses on only a few meetings is doing a disservice to that person seeking help. Mostly, what I needed was time and someone to talk to. But I don’t consider myself chronically mentally ill like some of these doctors are trying to make me out to be.”

Of course, mental health concerns cannot always be fixed by lifestyle changes, and many do require medication. I have depression, ADHD and anxiety. Until I found the right medication, I was drowning and constantly felt like I couldn’t handle college. 

Unfortunately, it took me years to find the right medication — or even the right diagnosis. When I was a teenager, I was hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I was asked about my habits, plenty of which could be construed as manic. I am indeed impulsive and irritable and I do talk excessively. 

However, my psychiatrist didn’t understand that what he perceived as wild mood swings were actually symptoms of puberty and a difficult home life. For years, I was given the wrong medications and the wrong treatments, and constantly wondered why I never felt any better. 

When I finally realized I wasn’t bipolar, I began the arduous process of trying to figure out what was really wrong with me. It took four years. I’ve made a lot of progress since then, but I often wonder how much better I might feel if I’d been diagnosed correctly the first time. 

So, why do mental health workers misdiagnose their patients? According to the American Psychological Association, as more and more people seek mental health care, medical professionals are being stretched thin. They are often overworked, burned out, and not afforded the time it takes to truly dive into a patient’s psyche. Finding the proper diagnosis is generally complicated — it has a lot of contingencies and context. 

When counselors and psychiatrists lack the proper time or energy to spend, things can easily become muddled or skipped over. This is indicative of much larger issues within our society, but the sad reality is that a lot of young people will continue to struggle with relatively manageable conditions or be treated and medicated for conditions they simply don’t have.

Though this information is daunting, none of this should scare anyone away from seeking help. If you are struggling, the best thing you can do is ask your doctor to refer you to a mental health specialist. 

As a college student, mental health is the most important factor in success. It determines one’s ability to make friends, concentrate, learn and feel hopeful about the future. Every student should feel empowered to keep up with their mental health and seek help when they need it. However, there is a crisis of misdiagnoses bubbling and it’s vital that students are aware and understand how to navigate it.