The Dangers of Self-Diagnosing Mental Illness: What You Need to Know

Imagine scrolling through social media and stumbling upon a post that perfectly describes you. The words resonate. For a moment, everything makes sense. You start Googling symptoms, reading personal stories, and comparing yourself to others. Before long, you’ve arrived at a self-diagnosis.

But is self-diagnosing mental illness clarity, or a dangerous illusion?

In today’s digital world, self-diagnosing mental illness is more common than ever. While it might feel empowering at first, relying solely on the internet or personal interpretation to label complex mental health issues can lead to serious risks. In this article, we explore why people turn to self-diagnosis, the dangers it poses, and how to seek proper, supportive care.

Why do we feel the need to self-diagnose mental illness?

Impatience and Frustration with the System

Accessing mental health care, especially through public health systems like the NHS, can be slow, confusing, and at times discouraging. Long waitlists, referrals, and multiple appointments make it feel like a drawn-out process. Understandably, many people try to skip ahead and make sense of their symptoms on their own.

Desire for Control and Certainty

Mental health struggles can feel chaotic and overwhelming. Self-diagnosing gives people a temporary sense of control. Finding a label, whether it’s anxiety, depression, ADHD, or something else, can offer a kind of relief. It helps people feel seen, validated, and part of a community.

No Judgement

Self-diagnosis can also hold a certain level of comfort. It eliminates the need to confront the uncertainties and discomfort of facing a mental health professional. Instead, we can hide behind the anonymity of online resources and forums, where we feel safe. This illusion of control can be compelling, especially when faced with the daunting prospect of seeking professional help and potentially facing stigmatisation or judgment.

The Risks of Self-Diagnosis:

What is Confirmation Bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories. Once you decide on a diagnosis, your brain will naturally start filtering information to support it. You may start noticing every symptom that fits and ignoring evidence that doesn’t. This can lead to a distorted view of your experience and worsen anxiety.

This tunnel vision can lead us down a path of misinterpretation, as we unintentionally amplify and fixate on certain symptoms while overlooking others that may be crucial in understanding our mental health.

The human mind is brilliant, but it can also be tricked. Often, when self-diagnosing, we may project symptoms onto ourselves. For instance, if a symptom is foot swelling, we may not be experiencing it right in this moment, but have done it three months ago. This could have been due to heavy exercise or poor footwear, but instead, we may recall that and project it into the cause of what you are experiencing now.

Misinterpretation

Without the guidance of a trained professional, we may misinterpret our symptoms and incorrectly identify the root cause of our struggles. Mental health conditions often have overlapping symptoms, making it easy to mistake one illness for another. For example, feelings of sadness, fatigue, and loss of interest in activities can be signs of depression, but they can also be indicative of other conditions such as anxiety disorders or even medical issues like thyroid problems.

Coexisting Conditions

Mental illnesses can progress into 2 or even three conditions or disorders, which is most common with anxiety disorders. Misdiagnosing one could lead you to "self-treat" for the incorrect disorder, in turn making anything contributing to the disorder worse. Mental illness can be extremely confusing and distressing; no person needs the stress of misinterpretation on top.

Mental health conditions often share symptoms. Fatigue, irritability, lack of motivation—these could point to depression, anxiety, trauma, or even a physical health condition. Without clinical training, it's easy to misidentify what's going on.

Example: You might assume you have ADHD because you're struggling to concentrate. But that could also be due to chronic anxiety, depression, sleep issues, or trauma.

The Hidden Costs of Misdiagnosis

Ineffective or Harmful Self-Treatment

A major danger of self-diagnosing is self-treatment, whether that’s taking supplements, trying unproven therapies, or avoiding treatment altogether. Without professional input, you may end up:

• Treating the wrong issue

• Worsening your symptoms

• Delaying proper care
  

Strained Relationships and Misunderstandings

When someone operates under the wrong diagnosis, it can impact communication with loved ones, coworkers, and healthcare providers. Relationships suffer when people don’t understand what you're going through, or when you miscommunicate your needs based on an inaccurate assumption.

Perpetuating Misinformation

Self-diagnosis can unintentionally spread myths and confusion about mental health. Misuse of clinical terms online (like “bipolar” or “OCD”) contributes to misunderstanding and stigma, which harms others seeking help.

Self-diagnosing mental illness also opens the door to self-medication, which can have grave consequences. Misidentifying a mental health condition and attempting to treat it without professional guidance can exacerbate symptoms or lead to further complications. It is crucial to remember that mental health treatment often involves a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes, all of which should be tailored to an individual's specific needs.

By self-diagnosing and self-medicating, we risk overlooking effective treatment options and potentially worsening our mental health.

The impact of unreliable online resources

In today's digital age, information is at our fingertips, and a quick internet search can yield countless results on mental health conditions. While this accessibility can be beneficial, it also presents a significant challenge. The vast sea of online resources encompasses a wide range of quality, accuracy, and trustworthiness. Unfortunately, not all sources are created equal, and relying on unreliable information can have serious consequences.

Online resources lack the crucial element of individualisation that is essential in mental health treatment. As mentioned earlier, effective treatment often involves a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes tailored to an individual's unique needs. Online resources cannot provide the personalised care and guidance necessary to develop an appropriate treatment plan. By relying solely on these resources, we risk disregarding potential treatment options that could significantly improve our mental well-being.

It's important to recognise that online resources should never replace the expertise and guidance of trained professionals. While the internet can be an invaluable tool for obtaining information, it should be used as a supplement, not a substitute.

If you are concerned about your mental health and want to take the first step to diagnosis and recovery, call 111 and speak to a healthcare assistant today.

It is crucial to remember that mental health is complex and multifaceted. Self-diagnosing based on internet resources or personal experiences alone can overlook important factors and professional insights. By turning to trained professionals, we can receive accurate assessments and individualised treatment plans that consider the nuances of our unique situations.

As the saying goes, "To see the light at the end of the tunnel, seek guidance from those who understand the complexities of the darkness."