The Dangers of Self-Diagnosing
Yo"I cannot stand a disorganized room, I am so OCD!"
Sentences like these have become common conversational phrases among today's youth. Terms like OCD, ADHD, anxiety and depression are often used as slang, assigned to oneself on a whim. With pop culture highlighting mental health issues on social media, a trend of idealizing mental illness and romanticizing one’s suffering has emerged amidst the youth. Social media runs a stream of information and mental health is increasingly becoming a popular topic. The internet is a useful tool, but can it also be harmful when it comes to your mental and physical health?
With the rise of TikTok and Instagram influencers opening up about their mental health struggles and talking about their personal experience with mental conditions, some part of the youth are finding it easier to relate to these stories and even presume to have a mental health condition themselves. Hearing about a variety of symptoms and coping techniques associated with psychological disorders, it is easy to pin it all on oneself.
While having knowledge and forming an understanding of these concepts and issues is important, self-diagnosis without proper comprehension can be harmful.
What is self-diagnosis?
Self-diagnosis is identifying a mental health condition affecting you without professional consultation and diagnosis. This can be done simply by examining personal experience and relating it to symptoms mentioned in books, movies, or social media.
Research has shown certain factors contributing to tendencies to self-diagnose such as levels of distress, mental health literacy, and stigma. Adolescents are in a transitional phase of their lives, undergoing identity formation and in the process of self-discovery. They experience personality construction and look for acceptance, and understanding. Social media's candid conversations give them access to relatable material, which strengthens their sense of community and lessens their feelings of loneliness.
What TikTok doesn't tell you about mental illness
Mental health diagnoses are complex and hard to categorize.
Experiencing a range of emotions one time does not imply having a mental health condition. It is important to keep in mind that human beings have a wide range of emotions and behaviors; just because they somewhat resemble symptoms posted online does not imply that these represent your mental health status.
A mental health disorder or illness involves a pattern of symptoms that seriously impair one's ability to operate on a daily basis at home, school work, or in other settings. It is distressing, meets certain criteria and necessitates a professional evaluation.
Harms of self-diagnosing
Mental health is not a DIY project. Not only can self-diagnosis be inaccurate, it can even be dangerous. A potential risk with self-diagnosis is misdiagnosis. Such a diagnosis can do more harm than healing. Having an inaccurate diagnosis can lead to a worsening of one's condition, cause unnecessary anxiety, lead the individual in the wrong direction of treatment and delay appropriate interventions. It may lead to the risk of missing an underlying medical illness.
For instance, hypothyroidism or vitamin deficiencies cause the individual to experience fatigue, weight gain, and low mood. One might just assume these to be symptoms of depression and miss the thyroid issues leaving them to go untreated and leading to worsening of the symptoms.
While it is great to be aware of mental health issues and conduct research, self-diagnosing a mental disorder can be risky. It is crucial to consult a mental health professional to confirm your findings. Ultimately, one of the most crucial components of your recovery strategy is your diagnosis, hence in order to fully recover from any medical condition- be it mental or physical- a formal diagnosis is the first step and will allow you to move forward on your journey to well-being.