If you only have two minutes
Complete these two lines and stop. They are a usable minimum version of the core card, and you can return later.
- “This diagnosis may help describe or organize a pattern in care; it does not…”
- “One uncertainty or question I want to keep is…”
What this lesson is for
The work of this chapter is words, not tests. Nothing you write here diagnoses anything. What it does is give you language accurate enough to use with a professional and steady enough to use with your family, which turns out to be two different problems.
Episodic and longitudinal. Two words worth owning early. Episodic means the changes come in recognizable periods rather than running flat forever. Longitudinal means the picture only makes sense across time — which is why a single appointment, a single questionnaire or a single bad fortnight cannot settle it.
You leave with one Meaning / Not-meaning + Diagnostic Wording Card, and one uncertainty to take to a qualified professional.
Only in the video
Two things are only in the video.
- Sam's card, worked through. The difference between a phrase that survives an appointment and one that collapses is easier to see happening than to describe.
- Why “the diagnosis is not you” is more than reassurance. Clara takes it apart properly, and it lands differently spoken than printed.
This Program does not recommend a medicine, compare doses, select a treatment, or tell you to start, stop, restart, taper, change or combine anything. If you're considering a change, contact the professional who knows your situation before you act — and if it's urgent, use an urgent route.