The Potential Harm of Self-Diagnosis and its Impact on Mental Health

The internet is really cool. You can learn all about psychology and mental health diagnoses, but you aren’t learning it in any order, which means that you aren’t getting the first lecture in every psych class - which means it’s more likely that you’ll self-diagnose depression or anxiety in a way that can be harmful for you.

In this podcast you’re going to learn all about how trendy psychology may be convincing you that you’re broken, depressed, or have an anxiety disorder and how to prevent yourself from getting sucked along with psych trends.

We humans have a tendency to read into things and twist them to fit our own reality. We see ourselves in vague descriptions, we empathize with characters in books, and when we hear a list of symptoms in a diagnosis, we think, “Uh-oh, that sounds like me. Maybe I am depressed, or maybe I did have a disturbed childhood."

It's easy to find information about depression diagnosis or anxiety diagnosis on the internet, but self-diagnosis may harm you. Right now anyone with internet access has the ability to look up a list of symptoms and decide if they fit the criteria for any disorder out there. Videos and blogs and webMD articles can all tell you what to look out for with any mental illness. But what they’re all missing is the first class in Psych 101. And this seems wrong to me.

Tons of people are essentially making money telling you that you might be broken but they aren’t taking the time to tell you first that you’re likely to jump to conclusions. And this can make you feel broken. I

n Psych 101 the teacher almost always starts the course off by telling people, “As you learn about these diagnoses, you’re going to be tempted to see yourself in every one of them.” We have a tendency to self-diagnose, to label ourselves and to take suggestions as if they’re fact. But just because you sympathize with a list of symptoms, doesn’t mean you actually have that disorder.

I’ve heard this lecture at the beginning of most of my psych classes, but even into grad school, and even with that knowledge, it was easy for me as I went through DSM to start seeing myself in every diagnosis.

We have a tendency to diagnose ourselves inaccurately because we don’t have the context to see that it’s common to over-diagnose yourself.

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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.

In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe

If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services.

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