The dangers of Doctor Goodle: stop self diagnosing
In recent years, it has become far more common to find teens and young adults self diagnosing- as the stigma around mental health has begun to melt away. Self-diagnosing is the process of diagnosing oneself with mental illnesses- such as depression, anxiety, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)- though it can span across any mental illnesses. Someone may self-diagnose using easily accessible resources like medical dictionaries, books, Internet resources, past experiences, or recognizing symptoms or medical signs of a condition that someone you know may have had or still might have. Self-diagnoses can be immensely harmful- not only does it take away from the great amounts of work to become a psychiatrist, the lack of neutral stance, based on incorrect information, among other things.
Art by Audrey Strauss
To be a psychiatrist, one must do a lot of work to even get their license. The aspiring psychiatrist often needs to go to school for at least 12 years, though it could be longer. They first need to study for four years to earn a bachelor's degree in psychology, chemistry or biology. Then a medical college admission test to enter a medical college in which they’ll study for four years. After, they’ll obtain a license by taking a state board examination and meet additional requirements like a background check so that they can complete a residency of yet another four years. This is not an easy, simple feat to complete- and this is just to start working. A person can easily look at symptoms on a google site thinking they understand their illness, but the reality is it is not comparable to the 12 years of education completed by a psychiatrist. They must study for over a decade just to get a license and put in great amounts of effort to simply start to do so. A person cannot understand such things with a few google searches. Madison Braverman, the school psychologist, explains her opinion on diagnosing.
“I always recommend someone to go to a health professional or mental health professional…” Braverman said. “There's been a big increase of TikTok or Instagram or Facebook or different platforms, sharing videos that makes many people believe, not only students, that they may have different disorders or mental health concerns, so I don’t that’s a way to diagnose through any videos or what we learn online,”
The harsh reality is the average diagnosis- with a psychiatrist- can take immense amounts of time, not the five minutes it takes to watch a TikTok and do a google search. The process of diagnosing includes testing- these tests can cover both physical and psychological areas- such as blood tests, biometric data, interviews about symptoms and psychological questionnaires. The mental health evaluations could take from 20 to 90 minutes- along with the 30 to 45 minute physical test. Simple google searches and reading symptoms cannot compare to the minimum of an hour of testing- especially when some sources may be biased themselves. Some people may self-diagnose using other people's personal experiences, which is highly biased. Each person's struggle with mental health is different from the next- some symptoms may appear in one person, but not another. As well, these people might not be telling the whole story- they may be keeping certain, more severe or problematic issues to themselves out of fear of being shamed or harassed. For example, bed rotting- which consists of staying in your bed and not leaving- has become more popularized. This is a symptom of depression- but some people believe that bed rotting consists of a few hours in bed. The depressive symptom actually can last for multiple days or weeks- to the point where the person is halting actual self-care such as bathing, cleaning their room, taking care of their hair, eating, ect. Braverman details just how severe depression can become.
“I think that most illnesses and mental health disorders have a spectrum…” Braverman said. “But sometimes, depression can become severe where it causes feelings of suicidal idelation and hopelessness and severe sadness.”
Self-diagnosing brings a whole host of problems. The self-diagnoses can be tainted with external influences, which can be harmful as the person cannot accurately represent themselves. A neutral stance is necessary for proper diagnoses as it can allow the one being evaluated to correctly evaluate, with little pressure. When self-diagnosing, the lack of neutrality can lead to misdiagnosis as one might feel pressured to be mentally ill or not. Also, it can be highly dangerous. Self-diagnoses can lead to incorrect perceptions of their mental health- which can cause more unnecessary anxiety. They also incorrectly believe that something is wrong with them, all the while being completely neurotypical. Some people who self-diagnose could do so incorrectly, wishing that they are neurodivergent, having glamorized such a thing in their head. Some may even be fetishizing it, in hopes of appearing more interesting, quirky or adorable. By incorrectly diagnosing themselves, neurodivergent fetishizers only cause more harm to those who are actually neurodivergent and cut into the spaces cultivated specifically for them.
A self-diagnoses can be more harm than good- the person’s view of neurodivergence might be tainted as they feel a mental illness would make them “interesting” and a few google searches or videos cannot compare to the lengthy time it takes to get diagnosed or the time it takes to even get become a licenced psychiatrist. Braverman expresses her wish for students on the terms of mental health aid.
“Utilize resources on campus and I hope students know they’ll never be alone,” Braverman said. “...Get professional help, people are out there because they want to help you and do what’s best for you and be a kind person.”