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DimitySenior Contributor
When we fall back on self-diagnosis - as is increasingly happening when access to professionals is difficult and/or expensive, and social media seems to provide all the answers - we are making decisions about how we see ourselves and the future trajectory of our lives. It could be more limiting than we expect.
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
OaktreeSenior Contributor
@Dimity
I basically self-diagnosed ADHD because I can't afford a real diagnosis. I did end up doing the CAARS survey with my psychologist and she does agree that I have ADHD.
In response to: Re: Reflections on self-diagnosis
DogMan79Senior Contributor
I like this quote from the article "Memories are reinterpreted through the new category. Past difficulties are retrofitted into a narrative of lifelong condition."
It can be a slippery slope
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
KashminaSenior Contributor
Hi @Dimity I strongly feel we all need to look after our own mental health and do our own reasrach when it comes to how we manage ourselves our symptoms and lives but I do agree with this notion (if I have read it correctly)
I have come away from class room studies where many talked about their self-diagnosis and what came with this were limitations in how they involved themselves, what they said they could and couldnt do. I remember thinking, you have already put yourself into a box where you wont explore certain aspects of life, challenges so to speak.
We are all different and so are our experiences with mental health. Its so hard for people out there now not being able to access proper support 🤗
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
FearofUnknownSenior Contributor
I self-diagnosed myself as having Schizophrenia because I am so afraid to saying "yes" to the doctor's question "Do you hear voices" . I'm sure my self-diagnosis isn't incorrect, I just don't admit it.
But I do agree that self-diagnosis can go wrong for more complex cases like DID and other Personality Disorders.
In response to: Re: Reflections on self-diagnosis
DogMan79Senior Contributor
@FearofUnknown wrote:I self-diagnosed myself as having Schizophrenia because I am so afraid to saying "yes" to the doctor's question "Do you hear voices" . I'm sure my self-diagnosis isn't incorrect, I just don't admit it.
But I do agree that self-diagnosis can go wrong for more complex cases like DID and other Personality Disorders.
And in the article, the point the author is making is that identifying as schizophrenic shapes your identity. And places limitations on you. Without ever confirming it medically. So the author questions if that process is detrimental to the patient
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
SleeplessRavenSenior Contributor
This is an interesting take, and a good bit of food for thought. While I agree that social media has fuelled an uptick in certain mental health diagnoses, I see it in a more positive light because it’s reducing the stigma of these conditions. I don’t think there are more people living with these conditions than before; I think more people are able to access information that gives more clarity to issues that they may have previously dismissed as just how hard life is without needing a label or reason. While self-diagnosis can be potentially limiting or problematic, these are people who arguably have legitimate and often long term mental health concerns that have been unable to find reasons for the issues they’ve faced in their lifetimes. If they’re resonating with specific language and wording used by people on social media, isn’t it possible that they have actually experienced things the author deems ‘worthy’ of that diagnosis? Another person’s path isn’t mine to judge.
A diagnosis, self or clinical, is only as limiting as we choose to let it be, and it only becomes the crux of our personality and how we interact with the world if we decide it is.
As someone with a formal medical diagnosis, I can attest to how expensive getting help is, and I didn’t seek it, I had it thrust upon me. I wouldn’t be around now today without it - hell I’m barely here now with it. Cost shouldn’t be a barrier to a formal diagnosis and ongoing help, but it really is.
Just because this phenomena is driven by social media, doesn’t mean it’s all for clout. I know that the fear is that by popularising conditions in the media, people lower the bar of ‘entry’ into that condition to reshape their lives and alter the narratives they’ve already lived to suit. My hope is that maybe this is giving people access to tools and a different form of help than we’d like, but one that makes things a little easier.
I just feel like the author presupposes that those with a self-diagnosis would not actually meet with a similar clinical diagnosis and it feels closed-minded. Maybe it’s the very label of ‘self-diagnosed’ that needs changing to something like ‘undiagnosed’ or ‘suspected’ that’s less invalidating to the actual process other people have had to endure with their diagnosis. We live in a country of ‘she’ll be right’. I’d rather hear someone admit ‘I’m pretty sure I have xyz condition’ than someone never learn that help can come in many forms.
I dunno. Feel free to completely disagree!
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
RatDivaCasual Contributor
This is very true! I often think about the weight of diagnostic / mental health language and how it shapes our self perception.
Relying on social media only is dangerous but your point about it being more accessible is also very real.
A diagnosis can be helpful. For me, giving something a name provides me clarity. However, I think we must remember that we are humans first and our diagnoses are just little parts of all the things that shape us as people.
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
SchizOttieSenior Contributor
When I was working, I had no idea I was AuDHD person having difficulties due to Slow Processing Speed and Working Memory Deficits.
I only know how I paid Psychiatrist and Psychologist fees while on Job Seeker with a 3 monthly stop on work due to medical reasons to get a Schizophrenia diagnosis and get on DSP!
I also had to borrow funds to pay $3000 fee for an Autism diagnosis!
More fees followed to know my 4 different types of IQ through a Neuropsychologist!
I guess I need to do the same for ADHD!...
...Our hardships along with the mental health problem certainly gets exarcerbated due to languishing wait for Diagnosis!
In response to: Reflections on self-diagnosis
SleeplessRavenSenior Contributor
Interestingly, as of 2026, you will be able to get an ADHD diagnosis from a GP in South Australia, meaning that the cost for this specific diagnosis and hopefully its treatment should be a lot lower moving forward for anyone in SA. Considering it cost my partner upwards of 1k to get his diagnosis and get treatment, I think it’s a step in the right direction.
In response to: Re: Reflections on self-diagnosis
Eden1919Senior Contributor
i have mixed feelings on the topic because even with a professional i was MISDIAGNOSED for a long time likely due to being a woman and a person of colour this almost ruined my life actually nearly cost me my life because i was being funnelled wrongly into treatment that would never work for me and then when they didnt was told i was just an attention seeker. so even professionals get things wrong at times and the cost of a formal diagnosis is way too much for many people especially if the condition is disabling you to the point you cant work how then can you afford an assessment they system is failing everybody. i am not exactly pro self diagnosis because i think it can be done wrong especially if your only information source is tiktok but if you have done decent research it probably isnt that much different to seeing a psych in some ways. idk very mixed about it.
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