What if there's nothing wrong with us and we're just mediocre?
Someone with an IQ of 80 will probably never be able to attain a college degree. But that doesn't mean they have a disease. Their brains just don't work as well as most people's.
That is something a neuropsychologist would be able to discern, but a normal clinical or counseling psychologist would be a good place to start.
In general if you want to determine if you should be diagnosed with something, don't go to a social worker (they're wonderful for counseling/therapy, but typically they don't have extensive training in diagnosis and can't administer most psychological tests. A licensed clinical social worker may have one course in diagnosis taught by another social worker, whereas a ph.d. clinical psychologist will have years of descriptive psychopathology and assessment courses) or a psychiatrist (typically don't have the luxury of time to spend and won't be trained in the relevant psychological tests).
This is a vastly underrated comment. If you don't know what you have, a trip to the neurologist or neuropsychologist is better than trying to figure it out piecemeal. There could be memory issues, language issues, attention and learning issues, behavior issues, dietary issues and the doctor will know what tests and other specialists you need to understand what's going on completely. I had this done for my child and it made a world of difference.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I want to add that some clinical psychologist are, despite their training, not able or perhaps willing to give proper diagnosis. I've seen my younger brother go through multiple ones to be diagnosed different things by different people, put on various meds etc. Just because someone has qualifications doesn't mean they give enough of a shit to do a good job. Some of these people seemed to want nothing more but to tick boxes and be done with their day.
Yeah, as another person commented, there is variation in skill, training, and competence within psychologists (as with every profession).
My recommendation for seeing a psychologist first was because often neuropsychologists won't see patients without a referral. This referral could come from a primary care physician, and that's probably a good strategy as well, but also a psychologist hopefully knows which neuropsychologists in the area have a good reputation. If the psychologist you go to hoping for a referral got a Psy. D. from a diploma mill and is too stupid to understand the limits of his/her expertise, then the plan backfires (unfortunately sometimes professionals mistake "experience" for actual skill and knowledge, so as they continue in their careers they think they know better than other people simply because they've been doing it longer. Continuing education requirements in psychology are also pretty lax).
good point. The important function is to measure and localize the brain function and look for abnormalities. Someone with an IQ of 130 and a short term memory/executive function of a 3rd grader would be a red flag. The more you learn about "intelligence" the more it makes sense.
Each part of our brain has a function, and we search for specific areas associated with specific disorders!
The amount of experience a clinician has in assessment and their level of knowledge is not always determined by degree. Do some research in your state if you're from America- the requirements vary a lot.
Source: am a clinician
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u/[deleted] May 30 '17
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