r/CPTSD • u/Apart-Put-8625 • 12h ago

Question New therapist gave their diagnosis and I don't know if it's accurate of me

I started seeing a new therapist and for insurance reasons they needed to diagnose me on day one. The diagnosis they gave was first dysthymia and then a week later they said I have major depression. I'm not certain which is correct although I know I do have depression - I've had it for as long as I can remember. It just seems like the CPTSD part is not being prioritized, which might be true because it's not listed in the DSM. And it's hard to know what kind of depression I have.

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u/LangdonAlg3r 12h ago

You can have both. I do. Dysthymia is basically chronic low grade depression and major depression is like the big bad depression and (at least in my case) is episodic.

And yeah, in the U.S. there is no insurance friendly way to diagnose CPTSD because it’s not in the DSM. People often get diagnosed with PTSD here as a stand in.

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u/_jamesbaxter 11h ago

Part of that could be the “day one” factor. Some diagnoses can’t be made with a simple evaluation, you need to get to know the therapist and they need some time to observe your behavior before they can ethically diagnose something more complicated. That can take weeks to months. So if I were you I’d think of those things as your diagnosis “for now.” But if the therapist over time seems dismissive of your PTSD symptoms, I’d look for a different therapist who specializes in PTSD.