Psychiatrist said my MMPI-2 results show I exaggerate problems + cry for help (though they consider my results to be reliable). How should I approach my current psychiatrist with explaining how I was not exaggerating and I'm honestly just struggling THAT much??

I was in a psych ward 2 years ago, my psychiatrist there had a tendency to not ask me enough about my problems, she'd assume something and decide on it instantly instead of asking me. Like how after 1 visit with her she tried to undo my autism diagnosis, so I had to show her my autism diagnostic papers, my disability papers (related to my autism diagnosis) and explain my masking + how I was in childhood, and she agreed to not undo it. This shows she was "trigger-happy" to invalidate my experiences without consulting with me first.

On my MMPI-2 test results she wrote:

"Analysis of the control scales reveals a tendency for the subject to exaggerate problems, which results in an elevated profile – most clinical scales fall within the 67-89T range, except for scales 5 and 9. However, the obtained test results can be considered reliable. Elevated scores on most clinical scales can be understood as a cry for help."

And she diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder which I definitely think is a 100% accurate diagnosis. But she also told me to my face that I got a lot of intense results from the test so she decided to only diagnose me with one thing.

I've read the MMPI-2 scales, and I do indeed struggle heavily with most of the things there, also a lot of them are related to each other anyway. I personally feel invalidated, like my problems were brushed off because they seem to be too extreme, which is very hurtful. I got to that psych ward after almost committing suicide over a breakup, I was struggling with severe dissociation, I had panic attacks multiple times a day, I was extremely paranoid and ruminating over obsessive thoughts, I thought I had a voice in my head who wasn't me (though I was able to show self-awareness over it not being normal), extremely easy to trigger with a mental breakdown, suicidal, constantly daydreaming, 0 self confidence and much more.

I still struggle with those things heavily. My bpd diagnosis helped me a lot with picking a good therapy route, but I feel very uncomfortable with the fact that she certainly did not diagnose me with other things I qualify for because she decided I'm just crying for help and not being fully honest.

How should I approach my current psychiatrist with all this? I want to ask her to test me for schizotypal disorder, as reading the criteria I literally struggle with each symptom aside from the limited emotions/affect. I fear that my test results saying I was apparently "over-exaggerating" will cause my psychiatrist to not take me seriously.

Posted Dec 5, 2025, 3:24 PM UTC

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