Self-Diagnosing

[Palkia]

What are your thoughts on people self diagnosing themselves with illnesses on the internet? Do you think that it's helpful to spread awarenesses of illnesses, or do you think it can cause fear-mongering and stress (i.e googling any symptoms of anything = cancer)?

 

[User Anon 1848]

I've definitely been guilty of this. Logically I know it's best to leave things like diagnosis in the hands of the appropriate professionals but it can be hard not to connect the dots on your own when you see so many symptoms in yourself whether it's behavioural or physical. Especially when there are more obvious signs of certain conditions such as OCD and germaphobia. There have also been times when other people have put ideas in my head about being this or that which led me to seriously consider their points once I did my own research. Still I try not to be as quick to label myself as I was in the past. Google turns some people into hypochondriacs I guess.

 

[Kanzler]

I think it's irresponsible and comes from a place of ignorance, but I can understand why people would do this. Connect the dots all you want, because it's important that you're able to inform the health-care professional to the greatest extent possible, but leave the diagnosis to them.

 

[Vendily]

It's good to be self-aware and noticing symptoms, but I am against self-diagnosing because then it's possible to run on confirmation bias and exagerate symptoms that aren't really there.

Now, recording your symptoms and going to a trained medical professional and presenting that list is great, especially if you can record the time or what you were doing.

But yeah, no to self-diagnosing from me.

 

[Mawa]

I tend to do this, I say I am *almost* hypochondriac XD If I feel something I'll imagine it worst and I'll soon get the other symptoms but only because I've read about them. My best friend is in med school so I text her often and she reassure me. She helps me to find what might be the real cause of the symptom.

 

[EC]

I once convinced myself that I was having a heart attack just because I was having a little muscle pain from cleaning the pool earlier in the day. It was incredible how, as I read down the symptoms, I seemed to be getting them all one by one.

Needless to say, I haven't been back to WebMD since.

 

[Somewhere_]

Its probably decent for minor stuff like a cold or something, or just for general knowledge, but I dont think its overall very effective because people will making it seem worse than it is. Or start feeling symptoms they dont have or think they have.

 

[Her]

Self-diagnosing is only as common as it is because these people generally aren't able to make it to a doctor at that time, because of costs, time or anxiety. Accessibility of info but the inability to have it legitimised is what makes self-diagnosis so rampant. I don't think it's really a matter of ignorance as Kanzler said, it's just a byproduct of a time where info can be accessed far easier/quicker than a doctor can be. Particularly when you factor in impressionable youth who are just learning about mental health and what makes up depression or bipolar or what not, who read into themselves a bit too much due to their freshness and naturally are going to act like impressionable teenagers do. Especially online where it is very easy to find others like yourself and reinforce those self-diagnoses, finding comfort in people who are also as apparently messed up as they are. As everyone else has said, it's just a matter of actually getting to a health care professional and having your thoughts verified and hopefully understanding what's actually going on. I don't think it's that big a deal unless you start using your own diagnosis to explain how your interact with others or how you're treating yourself, however that may be. Then it really is irresponsible/ignorant.

 

[gimmepie]

I'm a little "yes" and a little "no" on this one.

Obviously it's not a good idea to google symptoms and just automatically assume that you have the worst possible thing those symptoms might indicate. However I think it's important that we are involved in our own medical processes because ultimately nobody knows exactly what you're feeling but you.

So basically, research if you must. Just don't go adding two and two and getting five. If you have cold symptoms, you've probably got a cold not nasal cancer. Leave the actual diagnoses to the professionals but be informed, request tests and be an active part of your own treatment.

 

[pastelspectre]

Only for minor stuff, however for serious things such as mental illnesses and what not I do not like that at all. I severely dislike it. I strongly recommend you do not self diagnose mental illnesses. I guess I don't like it because I'd rather people go get help and get diagnosed by professionals instead of self diagnosing and sitting in wallow and pity.

 

[Universe]

Guess I'll start by saying some illnesses can be very obvious, even mental ones. Professionals use a rubric that was created and edited by other professionals to determine illnesses in patients. Technically that same rubric could be reused by a normal person to determine whether or not they experience something. There are obvious flaws with doing this.. the lack of training and experience for one, and being the person affected could also cause judgement on a problem to be skewed.

However, the only differences I have really noticed with legitimate diagnosis and self-diagnosis are that professionals usually ask rehashed questions about their patient, and some can provide treatment. Professionals have and do misdiagnose for basically the same reasons any normal person would: mixing up symptoms with another illness, misunderstanding, and even ignorance. I was misdiagnosed and mistreated at least 5 times by professionals throughout childhood before I pin-pointed the problems myself with research as an adult. Mental illnesses are especially complicated because they stem from innumerable sources and most don't even have a clear-cut definition of experiences since all affected individuals vary. Health professionals also tend to be able-minded and rarely have personal experience with mental illness. A person from the outside can only judge as much as you'll tell them.. and even a professional won't know everything you deal with just by listening and reading.

With that said I am on the fence about self-diagnosis. I think it's very helpful to understanding yourself and why some things happen-- especially if you have decent medical knowledge.. heck, it can even help you meet people who understand you. But I am aware that it can also be really harmful, because if you're not armed with understanding on what you're dealing with you could misdiagnose and wrongly inform others about mental illness. For example there's an uncountable amount of people who have very negatively impacted a couple mental illnesses that I deal with by spreading wrong information about them and claiming to experience them when they actually don't. Almost daily I run across a joke or statement about my illnesses that was formed out of ignorance, inexperience, and people incorrectly self-diagnosing.

Only for minor stuff, however for serious things such as mental illnesses and what not I do not like that at all. I severely dislike it. I strongly recommend you do not self diagnose mental illnesses. I guess I don't like it because I'd rather people go get help and get diagnosed by professionals instead of self diagnosing and sitting in wallow and pity.

It's been said but I might as well address to you that not everybody can afford to see an expert, much less the treatment they provide. Medical care is extremely expensive and even insurance can be really difficult to get a hold of when you don't have money. Insurance usually doesn't cover the full cost of visits either so you'll still end up paying money out of pocket that a lot of people don't have. If you have the ability to see someone, absolutely do so before self-diagnosing.. but please keep in mind that is a luxury.

 

[zakisrage]

Self-diagnosis is extremely insulting to those who actually do have the disabilities these people are claiming to have. I actually do have an autism diagnosis, and it bothers me to see people claiming they're autistic just because they're socially awkward or because they are obsessed with a specific topic. As it turns out, both of these are normal on neurotypical people too. One thing that especially bothers me is that a lot of it relies on stereotypes. Having savant skills, being a picky eater beyond childhood, and liking trains don't automatically mean you're autistic either. There is a large variety of symptoms, and despite what some people may have read in that old Babysitters Club book with the autistic kid, it is impossible for an autistic person to display every single autistic symptom, but that's a whole other topic. Contrary to popular belief, most autistic people don't have savant skills (myself included), and savant skills aren't unheard of in non-autistic people. Disabilities are not fashion accessories.

 

[pastelspectre]

-snip-

I'm aware it is a luxury and I apologize if I came off as rude. I understand not everyone can afford a therapist or to see someone and all of that stuff. I don't mind self diagnosing for mental illnesses as long as you ask a professional or someone about it, IF you can. If not, then.. I guess there's no other choice. However I do find it insulting if someone just uses it for attention or to those people who really have the disabilities/illnesses. For example, autism, as zakisrage said. Or OCD, or anything else. Y'know?

 

[gimmepie]

Speaking as an autistic person myself, I think there's a pretty big difference between believing yourself to have a behavioural disorder and saying you do for the sake of attention. Generally speaking it's easy enough to tell the two apart also, there are many traits that autistic people possess and being an asshole is not a criteria for diagnosis.

 

[ShinyUmbreon189]

Most of the time when someone uses the internet to help find a illness they may have they're usually wrong, because when they see symptoms they automatically assume they're diagnosed with that particular illness. Even a trained medical doctor can't tell you what you have without proper testings.
Now illnesses like colds, flu's, etc it's usually obvious.

Some people witness an anxiety attack for the first time so they think they're having a heart attack because it has similar symptoms but it's clearly not the case.

Onto mental illnesses. Sometimes it's obvious, and usually you don't need a doctor to tell you, you have said illness. Now, to treat these illnesses you can do what I do and just toke up, or you can turn to the money hunger pharmaceuticals after a doctor prescribes you.

 

[Caaethil]

I hate it purely because of the mass self-diagnosis of OCD in our society. People who are what we might call perfectionists decide to label themselves with a well documented disorder and it makes me want to tear my hair out.

Yes, you arranged those coloured pencils in the box very neatly. And yes, I completely understand that you needed to straighten out that pile of papers. No, that isn't your OCD talking.

 

[starseed galaxy auticorn]

I used to frown upon self-diagnosing. However, I've realized that I have things that I never realized before. The problem for me though is getting it diagnosed by a professional. It costs a lot of money and would most likely screw up my disability benefits I receive every month. The only way I could get re-evaluated again is if it was through SSI, so that I don't lose said benefits. The only problem is, I can't really do that because I already have SSI to begin with. I have discussed my Dyspraxia with my ex-psychiatrist before. He feels that I do have it, but we couldn't get a proper diagnosis because again... social security would most likely forbid it.

That's what my dad says, anyway. Besides, even if I did get diagnosed... what good will it do? I'm 27 going on 28, and there's nothing left for me to do. There's no way for me to learn how to do things or to function properly. So, getting a pro diagnosis would only confirm what I've already figured out. It wouldn't give me any other options or help me in anymore ways. :/

I do get how most people who self-diagnose get carried away. Cases like what Caaethil said. People who look up a certain disorder and think "omg i have that". It's the same thing for those on the autistic spectrum.

 

[Dracowyn]

Ugh I hate it. We sometimes have patients who do this. Some with either symptoms so vague it could be anything ranging from a stomachache to brain tumors. Or from sites that even contain misinformation.

However the worst are the psychiatric ones. A lot of people don't seem to know how diagnosing psychiatric diseases works. Basically the only fully reliable source is the DSM-V (that's the one psychiatrists have to use). And it lists a big list of possible symptoms per syndrom AND how many you have to have before someone can be diagnosed with that.

What really pisses me off are people diagnosing themselves with "aspergers syndrome" on the internet while they're just socially awkward.
I have high functioning autism myself, but never knew which subtype since my parents refused further testing. I worked really hard to try to overcome some aspects of it so I can't stand those people who are just socially awkward, think they have autism or aspergers while it's actually not true and wear it like some trophy on the net blaming everything on that.

 

[Nah]

I suppose a problem with self-diagnosis is that while, hey, great, you (might have) identified what thing you're suffering from, but....what can youdo about it? It's one thing if you can easily get to a healthcare profession, but like's been said in this thread, not everyone can see a doctor or psychiatrist that easily. But you kind of need to see one. The majority of illnesses aren't really something the average person knows nearly enough about to treat themselves (and obtain the things necessary for treatment), and when it's something like your physical and/or mental health, that's really something you don't want to fuck up dealing with.

 

[Margot]

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. Mostly because 6 years back in was so sick I thought I was dying. I had dropped almost 20 pounds in a week and I was going from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist and no one could figure it out. So I got desperate and looked up my symptoms. I noticed a few mentions of this disease that like 1% of people have and I mentioned it to my doctor the next time I saw them. They tested for it & confirmed I had it. It's not very common so no one had considered it.

So while I think saying with 100% certainty you have something without a medical opinion isn't the best thing to do, I can understand why people might try. You want answers & something that makes sense.