Of course diagnosis uncertainty is a huge source of patient stress...the unknown is much more stressful because we feel helpless and without any understanding or control of what is happening to us . Once a diagnosis is made, a patient can learn what they can expect concerning their health...and learn all they can about the condition and what treatment options are available for them to explore and decide on...and move on to pursue professionals and others who they trust and feel confidence in to then help them manage the condition and pursue wellness again, if possible. It is called taking back control of your life...even if the diagnosis is terminal and there is not a good treatment option, at least the problem has been identified and the patient can begin the process of acceptance, planning, and making decisions.

Not knowing what is wrong with you...and thus not knowing what you can possibly do to help yourself...is scary and traumatic...especially when the "diagnosis uncertainty" continues for a long time.

What really sucks is not knowing what might be wrong. I have been having excruciating pain in my lower abdomen for over a year now... I don't know how many times I have heard "Good news is its not anything that is going to kill you... Bad news is we don't know what the problem is." I don't know how they know it won't kill me if they don't know what the problem is. Maybe it is something fatal and its just not bad enough to show up on tests yet. Its so bad sometimes that I can't walk. And the pain is ALWAYS there, just sometimes it gets worse. I have now been diagnosed with depression which I attribute to being in so much pain for so long, and not being able to live a normal life.

I really wish they would just figure it out... Believe me the not knowing is alot worse than knowing.

Joke is my long time Dr. who knows very well told me I should perhaps consider a career in the medical profession due to my medical knowlege. Being a family care giver for 50 some years starting with my grandma when I was 14 plus what I learned in the service.

I was in my 60's when he told me this. I looked him straight in the face and said by the time I graduate I can fill out my own death certificate

It took a study to find this? That's a waste of money that could and should have been spent (re)-training doctors to listen and to think, including think outside fo their individual little boxes. Do that, and making as certain as is possible that every doctor knows his/her limites, will go far towards changing the situation and therefore towards lowering patient anxiety.

To me this a BS study to get her name mentioned and use that on her resume. Why is this surprising if someone does not know what is wrong with them is more stressed than someone that knows what is wrong and getting treatments.

It's just typical. Doctors think they are gods and if they can't find anything YOU must be wrong. Control your nerves, cry, think and get on with it. I fractured my vertebrae, crushed my spine and have lived with constant pain for 6 years now. So far the most beneficial things I have had done are done at my request because the doctors do not really know how I feel. But, for sure, the insurance company will not pay for any type of mental depression like care. Good luck. The best you can do is the best YOU do.

As a writer, sometimes you have insightful conclusions to share with your readers, other times all you deliver is this.

I always hate that they schedule you for biopsies Thursday or Friday morning and then don't get back to you until Tuesday morning. That means you have all weekend to worry. Why do they do that? Is it intentional?

The other one I just love is when you go in for your MRI with contrast and they make all of these noises and say "oh, my" and "will you look at that" but won't tell you anything. They say your doctor will go over it all with you. Yeah, in a week! By then you are a nervous wreck. What you didn't know was that they were reading a sales flier behind the window and weren't talking about your tumor at all.

doctors are the worse cause of stress in a patient. You can be in excruciating pain, and the doc calls it "discomfort", so trivialising the patients problem. I once had a doctor sneer at me, and say "it's only pain" doctors who think they are above patients should try some pain themselves (the excruciating kind!)

Jane Russell - how RIGHT you are. I first encountered this 20+ years ago where high labor was referred to as "feeling some discomfort." (Yeah, passing a 7.5 pound bowel movement the size of a football.) When docs say "discomfort" they mean "more pain than you've may have ever experienced." Poor patient is slammed twice -- first by unbelievable PAIN and blind-sided by it becuase they were expecting stubbed toe. The most painful test I ever had (won't describe) COULD have been done with a local w/out affecting results, but doc had NERVE to say "it was only uncomfortable for a few minutes."