OCD: Beware Misdiagnosis

Diagnosing a mental health patient with a precise clinical disorder can be a difficult undertaking, and some types of mental disorders are particularly easily confused with others. In most situations, allowing concurrent diagnoses of different clinical disorders ' and even being generally over-inclusive in identifying a patient's different disorders ' is not harmful to the patient. In the case of the diagnosis of “obsessive compulsive disorder” (OCD), however, a misdiagnosis may send the patient down the wrong treatment path entirely. Such misdiagnoses can be particularly prevalent where OCD patients are abusing substances in an effort to self-medicate. But no matter the difficulties, misdiagnosed patients may have a viable claim for medical malpractice, so knowing the common diagnostic pitfalls is helpful.