There is value in diagnosis; it can be a source of comfort and a means to guide treatment. A diagnosis should be a way of defining a specific set of symptoms. But when a diagnosis becomes an individual’s defining trait, a dangerous line is crossed. Who we are as individuals becomes compromised and we are reduced to little more than a label.
The child playing in the park isn’t an epileptic, and the neighbour across the way isn’t a schizophrenic. That child has epilepsy, and that neighbour has schizophrenia, and the minute we as individuals start identifying ourselves and others as a diagnosis first, and a human being second, we have taken away from the very identity of whom we speak of, boiling down the multifaceted human self to an often negative and even stigmatic identity.
When a label is assigned to an individual it can be demeaning, and although the notion that labels are empowering thrives in many circles, this mentality doesn’t apply to everyone. We as a society deny the richness and complexity that we each hold, simply in the language we use, and our attitudes and beliefs tend to follow suit.
To label is to refuse the very essence of who we are: a multitude of abilities, experiences, and passions. We are each so much more than a diagnosis. Don’t be the label that we as a society are so quick to assign.