Sane’s stance on self diagnosis

That's a really interesting question, @Eden1919 . I'll be curious to see the mods and others thoughts.

Im also curious, if you are willing to share, your thoughts?

I personally dont have a set thought either way, except to wonder what the purpose of "self-diagnosis" and the severity of the mental illness is. So my thoughts would differ on the scenario.

If a person is negatively affected beyond their ability to self-manage (even after researching techniques that would be advised to a diagnosed person), then I feel that they would benefit from professional help (and that would by nature result in a confirmed diagnosis). If a person is able to self-manage effectively by using the techniques for the diagnosis they suspect they have, then that may be a more affordable and positive option for them.

I do not that self-dianosis could be wrong or could miss other conditions (and ive heard even professionals miss diagnosis too sometimes). E.g. a person may think they just have MDD but actually have Bipolar. Or they may have psychosis symptoms but only recognise anxiety because they believe/don't realise the psychosis-thoughts? (I dont know much about psychosis, so please correct and forgive me if that is not a realistic perception).

In terms of neurodivergence like ADHD and Autism (which I dont think is a mental disorder, but is in the DSM-5 and can commonly cause more distress to people which can result in depression, anxiety, etc), i think self-diagnosis is quite common among people i know - especially because of the costs involved with formal diagnosis. My personal stance is to always encourage people to identify techniques that help them personally - regardless of whether or not they would be diagnosable. But a formal diagnosis would help if they need financial assistance or access to supports only for diagnosed conditions.

Diagnosis terms are helpful for sharing a cluster of symptoms concisely. It can also be helpful for accessing funding and services (e.g. NDIS, DSP...).

But a diagnosis itself does not give any treatment in itself - which is why I take a practical perspective of using techniques regardless of formal diagnosis.

Hey @Eden1919, interesting question!

Because SANE is not a clinical space our focus is not on diagnosis, though of course it is something that often comes up in this space. Like @AlwaysMyself mentioned, we acknowledge that getting a diagnosis can be a long and financially prohibitive process that means that it is not accessible to many. Due to this we understand that some may instead self-diagnose using the information that they have available to them as a way to better understand their experiences and to help inform how they self-manage, and the support they may seek out.

Whether self-diagnosis is helpful or harmful can vary widely depending on the individual, which makes it difficult to speak on as a whole. Ultimately, we let people decide if something's not right and needs focus and are there to support their goals either through peer support, resources, signposting other services or doing recovery with them.

While speaking in terms of diagnoses can give a general idea of what a person is going through and how we might support them, it doesn't provide a full picture as individual experiences of diagnosed mental health conditions can vary widely from one individual to another. Because of this, we are more interested in the person and their experiences, and don't require a diagnosis to access any of our services - to highlight this, our services are also open to families, carers and kin.

Our overall approach is 'what matters to you' rather than what's the matter with you' and that doesn't require diagnosis

@holdinghope5 Thanks for the answer I was just curious

@AlwaysMyself personally I don’t really mind if people self diagnose as long as they have done enough research and haven’t just watched TikTok videos which are full of misinformation but at the end of the day i mostly just care that people are getting the support they need however they get that is not so important and yes it is true even professionals can misdiagnose that has happened to me before so i definitely don’t think professional diagnosis is without problems. But yeah as long as people are getting the support they need the diagnosis doesn’t matter so much.

100% agree @Eden1919 - people getting the support they need is the primary focus for me too 🙂

Hi @Eden1919

I just thought that I would chime in with a potentially relevant experience of my own

I have been given several conflicting Differential Diagnoses over the years. My current psychologist of about 3 years takes the approach of "What labels work for you?" She sees me as the best judge of that, not professionals

hi @Eden1919 it is tricky in an online space - i hope we can find a middle ground where people can share what they identify as having.

i am so over the diagnostic process in public mental health, and have had at one point four personality disorders on my file which i found pretty silly. They're all from different clusters, and it's very unlikely for a person to have four at once - just clumsy and defensive diagnosing from people who wanted to paint me as unwell to - I guess - cover themselves.

I thing talking to people about diagnoses can be helpful with good moderation. You can certainly "suspect" you have something and then ask a dr- in a collaborative process. I really believe in this, our instincts can be right as well.

@Eden1919 i would consider it entirely valid (kind of)

doctors often make mistakes and overlook things as they often (usually) look for the easiest explanation for presenting symptoms.
it would be entirely reasonable for a person to do their own research if they are not being properly assessed by professionals.
I mean it is not unheard of for people to do their own research into physical issues, for them to present the symptoms and their own associated research/information which leads to a correct diagnosis.
It is certainly no different for mental health.

I would imagine that most late diagnosed people for adhd, for example, learnt about adhd themselves, rather than it being picked up by others.
By going for an assessment, it is not far from the mark to say they have diagnosed themselves, and are looking for confirmation from a professional.

I don't know if that makes as much sense as i would hope. i know it's not as well explained as i would like