Summary
A reader describes lifelong difficulty making both everyday and major decisions, alongside anxiety. They have recently begun psychological care and medication and wonder whether indecision has a diagnostic name.
The response explains that indecision is not a separate diagnosis in the referenced diagnostic manual, but may accompany anxiety, depression, or perfectionist tendencies.
It supports the reader’s decision to seek care while emphasizing that only an in-person assessment can clarify what is happening; the reader can ask their clinician about the diagnosis and treatment plan.
Question
Reader · Identity withheldFor as long as I can remember I have had a major problem with “decision making”. I will constantly think about the various options in my mind, from large decisions like what career is for me or what religion should I believe in to small decisions like out of five fast food restaurants which one should I eat at or small like changing my clothes several times because the one I am trying is just not right.
I started to see a Psychologist three weeks ago, twice a month, and I started to take Paxil ( which has helped with my sweating hands and anxiety, but I still suffer from “indecisions”? Please suggest what I am doing right and your opinion what wrong with me, is there a name for “indecision” like “indecision disorder”. I would appreciate a response.
Thank you.
Answer
Mark Vigil Dombeck, Ph.D.There is no “indecision disorder” listed in the DSM (the diagnosis book for psychiatry/psychology/social work). However, there are disorders that can be associated with indecision. Key among the possibilities would be the anxiety and depressive disorders. Since you report anxiety and sweating hands, in addition to your indecision, it would seem more likely to be in the anxiety spectrum, with perhaps also some obsessional and/or perfectionist personality stuff going on.
Of course, there are also anxious “atypical” forms of depression and a variety of other possible things that might be happening. Only a qualified doctor who has examined you in person would be able to arrive at a more definitive answer to your question.
I’m very glad to hear that you are working with a doctor to get some help for your indecision and associated anxiety. Working with this doctor and getting yourself on medication that reduces your symptoms (your anxiety and sweating hands) are things you are doing right. Feel free to ask your doctor what he or she has diagnosed you with. It is your right to know this information.
