Background:

• I went for a formal psychiatric assessment a couple months ago, and the psychiatrist was hesitant to label me and instead said I had symptoms of GAD and persistent depressive disorder. I figured it was hard to really "label" me obviously especially since my functioning isn't impaired and I can go to work, social events, etc. just I'm just permanently in a lower mood and in a negative state. Not going to get into it here, but for as long as I could remember, things have felt off to me.
• A month after my appointment, I then started weekly psychotherapy appointments with a psychiatry resident (which is free and was the most available service to me compared to if I were to seek out a therapist/psychologist).

I honestly feel that if I went a few years ago, any diagnosis would've been more obvious. However, I have found my own ways to cope more healthily with more negative symptoms and feelings, and tried to remove triggers in my life. Yet, I still struggle with a lot of things today... just at a more maintained level.

I asked the psychiatry resident if there were any diagnostic labels she would apply to me, and she said she spoke to the original psychiatrist who did my assessment and said we could go through the DSM criteria together and see what applies if it would make me feel better. So she asked some questions and ended up saying "yeah it seems like those labels would fit"... but I'm not convinced she really "believes" I have anything aside from maladjustment and some negative thinking patterns.

I hate the feeling of having to almost convince/prove to someone that something's wrong... I've known that things have been off almost all my life and have already told her about all the negative/abusive situations I've grown up with, my lack of self-esteem, inability to handle rejection, dissociative moments, etc.

I know some people are hesitant to label, but it seems incredibly invalidating to me especially because I know I'm not as well-adjusted as most people I know, but I also am fully aware (and grateful) that I'm not suffering as much as those who can barely function with their disorders. Sure, it's all on a spectrum, but what is even the point of going through all this if I'm not even "that bad".