Diagnosis is treatment.

Abstract

The diagnostic process not only paves the way for treatment, but also functions as a type of treatment itself. Both behavioral and physical problems can respond to diagnosis properly used as a therapeutic tool. The role of diagnosis in dealing with psychological problems focuses on the ascription of meaning to psychological symptoms through proper diagnosis and effective sharing of that with the patient. The placebo effect is used as a model of how belief and understanding about physical symptoms (derived from the diagnosis) constitute treatment. Finally, it is shown that the meaning which the physician assigns to the disease affects recovery, and a "meaning model" of illness is derived and expanded.