My thoughts on diagnosis are mixed. The diagnosis mattered in getting the ehlp my children needed, like a comprehensive IEP or for teachers and supports to actually provide care they needed. On the otherhand, the stigma associated with diagnosis is real. That goes for internal and external beliefs. My daughter was given a diagnosis of chronic depression when she first went to her first psychologist in 3rd grade. That diagnosis stuck with her regardless of changes in puberty, age, etc. She can’t advocate for it to go away. It does not define her and as a young adult, I have seen her manage her health needs so well. My son has been given some lower level diagnosis and some very acute ones, like ” personality disorder”, ‘bi-polar”, and ADHD. All stated as potential. His behavior has always been extreme and he has been in residential for so long off and on. yet, to this day he only has a diagnosis of ADHD. I don’t think he even cares at this point of the diagnosis, he just wants care and services that don’t traumatize him or add to the symptoms. He has shared that he just wants to be teated like a normal human and not de-humanized. It’s interesting what a label implies.