Psychology In Seattle Podcast How To Diagnose
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Mar 30, 2026 They walk through clinical vignettes and debate possible diagnoses like mood, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and bipolar features. They highlight key historical questions and timelines that shape differential diagnosis. They discuss how social media influences self-diagnosis and the need for diagnostic humility and treatment-focused assessment.
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Favor Adjustment Disorder After Recent Major Life Changes
- Adjustment disorder is often the safest initial diagnostic hypothesis when symptoms follow major life stressors like a breakup and move.
- Kirk uses the vignette of Daniel (32) to show how sleep disturbance, fatigue, and worry after life changes point first to adjustment rather than immediate bipolar labeling.
Ask Timing And Course Before Labeling Mood Problems
- Ask about symptom course, onset timing, and prior history before assigning labels like MDD, GAD, or bipolar.
- Kirk and Isaiah stress clarifying whether symptoms began after the stressor or predated it to distinguish adjustment, depression, social anxiety, or bipolar.
Common Symptoms Span Multiple Diagnoses
- Vague overlapping symptoms (irritability, startle, concentration problems, sleep issues) can map onto anxiety, PTSD, or mood disorders.
- The Aisha vignette demonstrates how a single presentation can plausibly fit unspecified anxiety, PTSD, or low-grade bipolar without targeted probing.