what's your thought on self diagnosis ? - Forum

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

I KNOW THIS IS A CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC but I do think it's really interesting and I'd love to hear you guys' opinions !

a bit of introduction first, I'm 20 years old, been officially diagnosed with anxiety at 15 and autism last year. In both cases I was the one who decided to seek diagnosis after a long time of reflecting, anxiety was because I recognized myself a lot in most of the symptoms that I've been having since I was a kid. On the other hand, I started questioning myself about autism about 2 years ago, my ex partner was autistic as well and we frequently talked about it, he's the one who implied I should look into it and I'm thankful I did !

Anxiety diagnosis went pretty smoothly, autism however... yikes. As an adult woman it is extremely difficult to find signs of autism as most of them usually are pretty well hidden and not that noticeable from an outside perspective (depending on where you stand on the spectrum of course!). It took a lot of thinking as well as a look of courage to seek a professional diagnosis, and free centers take years to get back to you so I had to see a psychiatrist specialized in diagnosing autism in adults, which is very expensive (my family isn't really wealthy so that was complicated to say the least).

In the end I believe I "self diagnosed" for a while waiting for the results, mostly because I was distressed and kind of waiting for a positive answer (scary yet feels like an answer to a lifetime of questioning what's "wrong" with your brain), I did keep it to myself but considering myself autistic before knowing it felt reassuring, although now I think it might've been dangerous cause if I learned that I in fact wasn't autistic it probably would've fucked with my brain.

ANYWAYS, because of all this I'm not sure where I stand on the self diag topic, is it a good thing ? a bad thing ? in which cases is it good or bad ? i'm so curious to hear your thought !!!

Meister
National star

Meister wrote:
This is a hard subject, some things you know you have even if you don´t go to a doctor or get a diagnosis.
But some things needs a check up to see if it´s right or wrong. And sometimes a doctor don´t take the symptoms serious and ignore that patient and then when they get the right diagnose they have a short time left in life. ( Happened to a close friend to our family )

Sometimes a diagnosis makes a person calm, the person that seeks out what it can be.
Like if a person has panikattacks and start to hyper ventilate in open spaces and don´t know why they get scared. But when they find a name on the things they experience they know that they are not crazy, there are others like them. With a diagnosis they can also see what kind of help they can get, they need what kind of doctor they should call and talk to. ( You don´t call an doctor that looks in the ear if you have a broken foot )

Private
Popstar

ouch wrote:
I think its ok in some cases but I would refrain from saying I have this and that, would rather say I feel I have symptoms of this and that.
However, I have kind of self diagnosed myself with social anxiety, but with that its pretty simple and not very complex stuff, and I only tell ppl I have it so its easier to deal and also cus my psychiatrist won't ever talk abt it.

Private
Youtube star

Delusion1111111 wrote:
im not in the mood to type too much lol but i think that self diagnosis can definitely b a v good thing in some cases and it can also b a very bad thing in other cases. it all depends on so much.

being like 'ok i think i maybe have this disorder so in my own time im going to look up resources on how to cope w this disorder and help myself in these ways because i cant get in touch w a professional rn' is...fine. refusing to get a medical diagnosis and going around claiming that you have a disorder while also engaging in damaging behaviours that u dont know how to fix isnt fine.

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

Meister wrote:
This is a hard subject, some things you know you have even if you don´t go to a doctor or get a diagnosis.
But some things needs a check up to see if it´s right or wrong. And sometimes a doctor don´t take the symptoms serious and ignore that patient and then when they get the right diagnose they have a short time left in life. ( Happened to a close friend to our family )

Sometimes a diagnosis makes a person calm, the person that seeks out what it can be.
Like if a person has panikattacks and start to hyper ventilate in open spaces and don´t know why they get scared. But when they find a name on the things they experience they know that they are not crazy, there are others like them. With a diagnosis they can also see what kind of help they can get, they need what kind of doctor they should call and talk to. ( You don´t call an doctor that looks in the ear if you have a broken foot )

yeah I get that ! if I actually knew what the symptoms of anxiety were as a child I think I would've avoided a lot of distress !
wrong diagnosis are such a scary thing to think about too, my first psychologist (she was actually a psychoanalyst, I seeked her specifically because I just felt "weird" and didn't know how to express it or what it was about) used a method which really wasn't successful on me, basically going like "so how's school ? good ? alright, what about your family ? your friends ? all good ? well you have no problem then !" and I was just here like ".......... i guess......."... that was terrible lol I only saw her twice

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

ouch wrote:
I think its ok in some cases but I would refrain from saying I have this and that, would rather say I feel I have symptoms of this and that.
However, I have kind of self diagnosed myself with social anxiety, but with that its pretty simple and not very complex stuff, and I only tell ppl I have it so its easier to deal and also cus my psychiatrist won't ever talk abt it.

Yeah I think so too, I was never vocal about it because I was too afraid that people were gonna go mad just by me relating to an illness which I wasn't officially diagnosed with at the time, I guess they heard of snowflakes online and now need a letter from your doctor everytime you mention the tiniest symptom lmao

Why won't he tho ?

Homer
Streetmusician

Homer wrote:
self diagnosing is bad if you claim to have something you don't without properly getting a diagnoses for it. but if you look up symptons and can see yourself in that i dont think thats wrong. actually i think its good to learn about yourself so u can help yourself easier if u know "your problems" and difficulties.

but at the same time many so called professionals are often wrong. i can share my personal experience of being misdiagnosed with crazy things when i was 9-12 LIKE I WAS A CHILD! i was for personal reasons forced to do that but yeah, shows that ppl arent always right just because they are professionals

if u think u have a diagnoses its better to talk to someone to confirm it for u so you can go from there and get help if you want to improve your life!

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

Delusion1111111 wrote:
im not in the mood to type too much lol but i think that self diagnosis can definitely b a v good thing in some cases and it can also b a very bad thing in other cases. it all depends on so much.

being like 'ok i think i maybe have this disorder so in my own time im going to look up resources on how to cope w this disorder and help myself in these ways because i cant get in touch w a professional rn' is...fine. refusing to get a medical diagnosis and going around claiming that you have a disorder while also engaging in damaging behaviours that u dont know how to fix isnt fine.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Private
National star

Specter wrote:
1. literally everyone self diagnoses. if you say "i have a cold", "i think i have a drinking problem," or "i think i broke my foot", then congrats, you've self diagnosed! just like physical injuries, some people are unable to go to the doctor and get treatment, or are mistreated by doctors who make the condition worse (not to mention racism in the medical field- not only do doctors believe that Black people inherently feel less pain, they also misdiagnose Black people with schizophrenia on a regular basis)

2. my dad didn't even believe that autism existed, let alone that one of his own kids could have it, so in turn i was "self diagnosing" until i was 19. even now i still technically self-diagnose for disordered eating since i've only ever been to the hospital for the physical side effects (heart palpations + anemia + dehydration + inability to digest food)

3. if a kid or teen is pretending to have mental disorders online for attention, that's not something mentally healthy teens do. they've either been horribly misinformed or are seeking attention in an unhealthy manner because it's the only way they know to get attention (whenever i was trying to find out if i was autistic, i ended up in a grooming circle where an adult convinced me i had DID because i dissociated whenever i talked to him, therefore (in his words) i MUST have had an alter that liked him and wanted to be with him!)

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

Homer wrote:
self diagnosing is bad if you claim to have something you don't without properly getting a diagnoses for it. but if you look up symptons and can see yourself in that i dont think thats wrong. actually i think its good to learn about yourself so u can help yourself easier if u know "your problems" and difficulties.

but at the same time many so called professionals are often wrong. i can share my personal experience of being misdiagnosed with crazy things when i was 9-12 LIKE I WAS A CHILD! i was for personal reasons forced to do that but yeah, shows that ppl arent always right just because they are professionals

if u think u have a diagnoses its better to talk to someone to confirm it for u so you can go from there and get help if you want to improve your life!

yeah sure !! I think at some point to need to sort of selfdiag to seek help, but at the same time like I mentionned selfdiag can sometime feel like The Answer, and I don't think it's very healthy if they eventually find out that they were wrong, like what do you do with that now ??

Homer
Streetmusician

Homer wrote:

Sharkaz wrote:

Homer wrote:
self diagnosing is bad if you claim to have something you don't without properly getting a diagnoses for it. but if you look up symptons and can see yourself in that i dont think thats wrong. actually i think its good to learn about yourself so u can help yourself easier if u know "your problems" and difficulties.

but at the same time many so called professionals are often wrong. i can share my personal experience of being misdiagnosed with crazy things when i was 9-12 LIKE I WAS A CHILD! i was for personal reasons forced to do that but yeah, shows that ppl arent always right just because they are professionals

if u think u have a diagnoses its better to talk to someone to confirm it for u so you can go from there and get help if you want to improve your life!

yeah sure !! I think at some point to need to sort of selfdiag to seek help, but at the same time like I mentionned selfdiag can sometime feel like The Answer, and I don't think it's very healthy if they eventually find out that they were wrong, like what do you do with that now ??

yeah i think ur right

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

Specter wrote:
1. literally everyone self diagnoses. if you say "i have a cold", "i think i have a drinking problem," or "i think i broke my foot", then congrats, you've self diagnosed! just like physical injuries, some people are unable to go to the doctor and get treatment, or are mistreated by doctors who make the condition worse (not to mention racism in the medical field- not only do doctors believe that Black people inherently feel less pain, they also misdiagnose Black people with schizophrenia on a regular basis)

2. my dad didn't even believe that autism existed, let alone that one of his own kids could have it, so in turn i was "self diagnosing" until i was 19. even now i still technically self-diagnose for disordered eating since i've only ever been to the hospital for the physical side effects (heart palpations + anemia + dehydration + inability to digest food)

3. if a kid or teen is pretending to have mental disorders online for attention, that's not something mentally healthy teens do. they've either been horribly misinformed or are seeking attention in an unhealthy manner because it's the only way they know to get attention (whenever i was trying to find out if i was autistic, i ended up in a grooming circle where an adult convinced me i had DID because i dissociated whenever i talked to him, therefore (in his words) i MUST have had an alter that liked him and wanted to be with him!)

I absolutely agree with all of this, specifically the first one !!

And I can also sort of relate on the second one too, in the end my parents stopped freaking out and acting weird but having to come up to them to ask to get diagnosed ? for autism ?? that was so scary and hard to get them to understand

December
World famous

December wrote:
idk but i have kinda self diagnosed myself with social anxiety, since like i never wanna leave my house or do anything social cuz i'm scared and get nervous. is that bad to self diagnose?

Account deleted

wrote:
no thoughts on if it's bad or good, just experience

i did research on my 'symptoms' and behaviors and thougth that i have anxiety, depression and high functioning autism

i tried therapy and the therapist approved of the anxiety and depression thing and started to treat me for it and said she suspected autism because i 'refuse to participate and give wrong answers/don't really try' while i was doing everything she said and answered question honestly

fun times -.-

Private
World famous

Rotte wrote:
I think it's fine to look up and see what there is that it could be, then when going to the doctor u can point things out better.
What i do not agree with thought, is self diagnosing, sticking with that diagnosis without seeking help and actually getting diagnosed.
I think it's way to easy to misdiagnose yourself, because u can have symptoms but not have the illness. A lot of different illnesses have similar symptoms too.

This counts for both mental health and physical illness ofc

Sharkaz
National star

Sharkaz wrote:

December wrote:
idk but i have kinda self diagnosed myself with social anxiety, since like i never wanna leave my house or do anything social cuz i'm scared and get nervous. is that bad to self diagnose?

I don't think it can ever be "bad" as long as you're not coming from a place of "I know I'm lying but I need attention", to me social anxiety isn't something you necessarily need to get diagnosed since it just like. literally happens. you know ?
i'm a little bit more touchy when people self diagnose themselves with autism and assure everyone that they know for a fact that they have it, it may be just me but I almost find that a little bit "offensive" considering how hard getting a diagnosis it and the impact it has on your life (I think I'm rambling but I'm trying I swear)