1morey:
psychabuse101:
kellyann-graceful-warrior:
WHAT
ARE
YOU
DOING???
This trend is not ok. It needs to stop. End of story.
This isn’t going to be one of those, “I hate people who self-dx! You’re evil!”
posts that illogically rants about it or attacks people. They typically have poor arguments and attack the person instead of logically explain why it is wrong, which is known in philosophy as “ad hominem.“
If you send me hate, that’s on you, and I will delete it. I am not writing
this in an insensitive or rude manner. Many of the individuals on tumblr will
flip out when rightfully challenged about all of their “self-diagnosies” and
tell me to kill myself, that I am automatically ableist, and that I “just don’t understannddd!” and so on (once again, ad hominem).
Let’s show some maturity and intelligence.
If you dislike what it is I am saying, perhaps you are guilty of this. I am not
attacking you. It just clearly needs
to be pointed out.
To start off: I
understand, and here is my story.
There are people who do this who are confused, hurting, and
can’t get help, and sometimes they self-dx as a defense mechanism and as means of
coping.
At one point in my life, I was immensely distressed and confused by my feelings
and symptoms.
I self-diagnosed myself with dissociative identity disorder (DID) when I was
14. I did not post about it, but I convinced myself I had it. My dissociative state, which I now know was an entirely different disorder
and cause, was so severe. I turned to self-dx to help with my fears, confusion,
and anxiety about it. I see now how my experience wasn’t remotely similar to
DID. To someone untrained at the time, yes, I can see how it can be confused. But that is the point: I had no idea.
I would have been better off trying to help myself and manage it than attaching myself to some sort of label
to feel “comfortable.” It did not help, but rather, made me preoccupied with
symptoms I was afraid of having or thought I had.
With this said, I understand each self-dx case is different and some are
because they are so distressed and turn to it. I entirely understand that.
That does not make it OK or healthy, however. That does not mean when you start to realize you may be doing this, you have some kind of excuse or right to continue to do so. When I understood how it was so harmful, ignorant, and biased, I stopped.
In fact you will find a majority of the people who are so against self-diagnosis
are those who may have done it in the past. They now realize just how much
stress it caused them, how wrong they were, and how it is a
major problem towards the mentally ill.
The problem:
As mentioned, each case is different. Sometimes they are confused, other times
they are scared, other times, they are really not taking it seriously.
Sometimes, it’s a mixture of many reasons.
You cannot deny there are clearly people who add all of these illnesses as
some sort of desirable and interesting trait, pull out a list of disorders
on their blog to seem “soo interesting,“ and cling to the labels. It is all over Tumblr!
Many people seriously want to attach all these labels to themselves and draw
attention to it.
No matter the reason, even if with good intentions like mine, it is still not ok,
and is still a major mockery to the mentally ill.
Most blogs are now:
“I’m [name], self-diagnosed asperger’s, bpd,
aspd, ptsd, ocd, depression……”
“I’m [name] and I have antisocial
personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, histrionic personality
disorder, anger manifested depression, and (lists a bunch of illnesses
that aren’t even diagnosable) …”
“I’m [name] and I am manic-depressive, have chronic anxiety, bpd, bi-polar, autism….”
“I am self-diagnosed with borderline
personality disorder, ptsd, and bipolar disorder. I also might have
dyslexia, adhd, and eating disorders.”
People will seriously diagnose people over anons/asks or say whether or not
what they are experience is a symptom of a certain disorder or not:
Seriously, people?
It doesn’t matter how self-dx is done. Reading articles on google or databases does
not make you qualified or educated enough. Reading books does not mean you know
whether or not you have a disorder. It really doesn’t. It’s even worse when
people tell me they self-dx and haven’t even done more than go over a list of
symptoms!
Doctors are not allowed to self-dx, so why would you?
This leads to a HUGE release of misinformation and mockery. Apparently
*everything* is a symptom now because someone on here randomly says it is, as you can see
in the pictures above.
The behaviors of some people on here make me ashamed of my actual mental
illnesses, and I know I am not the only one. I am happy to see many others
speaking up against this self-dx trend. Many people on here will freak out if
anyone challenges how *interesting* they make themselves on their blog with
their disorders, and then they will blame it on their *disorders. *
Someone was diagnosed with about 10 mental illnesses on their blog, and when I
nicely called them out, they harassed me. Later, they messaged me and said, “It
was because of their disorders. I got so angry and harassed you because of my
disorders, which is proof I have them.”
So, on top of everything, many of them have given us a bad name.
This happens OFTEN. All it takes is
for someone to see it in all the tags and millions of blogs on here. It happens
more often than many realize.
The arguments for self-diagnosis are
typically weak ones. They generally consist of:
-You are ABLEIST because you discourage people learning about and expressing
their mental health. You should not discourage someone to look into their struggles.
-You just DON’T UNDERSTAND because some people can’t afford help, are in
abusive homes, and so on.
Except this doesn’t excuse self-dx, as mentioned. So let’s address each of
these throughout the post.
Medical student syndrome.
As a soon to be psych grad student, here is a well-known term used to describe
students who self-dx and worry about whether or not they have the disorders
they learn about. This is not something unheard of. Psychologically, we may
very well naturally try to put ourselves into the shapes and patterns of what
we read and learn about. When we read a
book or watch a movie, we may put our life experiences into it. We see it from
our perception.
Sometimes, learning about symptoms aren’t any different. If I mention “severe
migraines” we may think of a time we had a severe migraine.
With the rise of technology, people tend to think they have the entire world in
their hands and can suddenly diagnose themselves.
You have to remember that while it is true for someone who has a disorder to
become more aware of their symptoms the more they learn, someone is also highly
likely to put themselves into what they learn about, worry about it, or misinterpret
it as a symptom.
You cannot only pay attention to the information that is biased to your point.
I saw an argument going around describing how self-dx is valid because it’s not
that you start to attribute the symptoms to yourself, it’s that you become more
aware of them the more you learn.
Except that is less than half the story and goes against entirely how our
perceptions naturally work, especially if someone actually has an anxiety
disorder or phobia and out of worry, ends up actually diagnosing themselves
with a bunch of other disorders instead. This can cause extreme distress upon
them.
It is far more likely to be biased with your perception. If I did not know what
disorder I actually have, I can see how it can be placed into many others if I
were unaware of it. As I mentioned, I did that, and most do. Mental illnesses
are notorious for having overlaps—this
is a clinical fact. If I was completely focused on bipolar disorder instead of
what I actually have, I can see how I can put my symptoms into that, too. Quite
frankly, I can put my symptoms into any disorder.
Differential diagnosis:
Differential diagnosis is more complicated than anyone can conjure up until
they have completed grad school. People go to medical school and spend years in
graduate school for this. The more I go through school, the more I realize how
little I know—and I have been studying psychology for years. The more I learn,
the more I realize how realistically complicated it is. I have come to humble
myself even more throughout school, and honestly, part of realizing self-dx is
wrong is humbling yourself to this understanding.
In some sense, every mental illness can seem like another at some point in
time. When I was diagnosed, I saw three psychologists, a psychiatrist, had
blood work, and ruled out brain injuries and seizures. Differential diagnosis
is not just to differentiate between mental illnesses; it is to ensure nothing
physical is causing it.
Literally every mental illness has an overlap, and I don’t say that
lightly. This is because it is a spectrum.
Autism to some extent can seem like: depression, borderline
personality disorder, anxiety disorder, ocd, another developmental disorder,
adhd, and so on. I could say the same about all those disorders listed. Some
symptoms from one thing can really be caused by another or seem to be caused by another, when in all reality, it isn’t. In
all reality, it could be one, two, or none, of those disorders.
Differential diagnosis is such a complex process, I would have to make a
separate post about it to avoid making this post too long.
Diagnoses are hard to determine
Arguments I sometimes hear are: (1) I saw my doctor and they diagnosed me the
first day after some questions, so self-dx is ok. (2) After seeing my doctor
for some time, they pulled out a checklist and diagnosed me. So it is ok to use
the checklist yourself because that is how I was diagnosed.
This is just completely absurd; it assumes one’s own perception and experience
must be universally accurate.
First, if someone has received a diagnosis within a few minutes, then it’s most
likely wrong. It doesn’t take into account anything at all except for the
conversation and analysis they had right then and right now. I am sorry to say
the mental health field has its many problems, and a doctor who does that
really should do a better job. It makes me cringe. I do realize some disorders can
be more obvious than others, but it will not be like that for everyone, nor does it change the fact that the
professional was the one who determined it.
Second, if you were seeing a doctor for some time and they suddenly showed you
a list of symptoms and asked if you “think you fit them,” they are not
diagnosing you because of whether or not you
think you do. They most likely
already determined you have it through testing and analysis and are simply
including you in the diagnostic process. They will have to tell you and show
you at one point, won’t they? It is not always appropriate for a doctor to just
go, “So…you have ____ disorder” as opposed to, “Do you think this explains
you?” Imagine someone has a severe mental illness, and instead of discussing it
with the patient, they just told them they have it. They need to include the
patient.
Evidently, it is important for a patient to explain if it describes their
self-reported symptoms, and why it may not, for analysis too. But they do not
ask you to determine the diagnosis
entirely, no. Not at all. It may also show them exactly how aware you are of
your symptoms if you go and deny it. I hate this argument because it goes to
show how people assume they know whatever it is their doctor is doing and
thinking.
The DSM is not a checklist.
The American Psychiatric Association admitted right on their website in 2012 that
the DSM should not be used in a cookbook manner and that it is often misused.
The main purpose is to provide lawful proof that an illness exists and causes x,
y, and z main symptoms. Before this, people
could claim anyone was mentally ill or needed to be hospitalized based on word
of mouth. People were abusing what “mentally ill” really was, or they kept trying
to excuse people from crimes by saying they were mentally ill. Back then, there
were no laws and criteria for explaining mental illness at all. What is
“mentally ill?” What defines x, y, and z disorder, and what are x, y, and z
symptoms?
What the DSM provides is a convenient shorthand to the court, law, and other
professionals. This does not mean it determines strictly in itself whether or
not someone has a mental illness.
This brings me up to my next point—its purpose is for convenient shorthand. Its
purpose is for doctors to know the names and main symptoms of criteria so they
know what they heck people are talking about and come to agreement about
disorders. It is a brief overview and
reference guide for
professionals and does not cover their actual knowledge of these disorders.
The DSM never intended, nor claimed, to be something in which both
professionals and laypersons can just look at check off of a list. The DSM has disclaimers
right inside claiming the purpose for shorthand. And if professionals
intentionally did not set it up that way, then what makes you think you can
accurately use it that way?
Additionally, The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) by the World Health Organization (WHO) is another
diagnostic shorthand criteria, used almost as often as the DSM in diagnosing mental
illness. The criteria in these books and descriptions are not identical.
They are similar enough for clinical purposes, and so there are no major
controversies, yes (imagine just how much that can screw things up!), but it is
not identical nevertheless.
In the DSM, there is one type of Borderline Personality Disorder. In the ICD,
there are two. In the DSM, they combined Asperger’s, Autism, and so on, into
one spectrum.
In the ICD, they did not. (No, it’s not that “Asperger’s” no longer exists.
Asperger’s was always considered to be a spectrum of Autism. The just simply
wrote it differently as one spectrum now).
These books, at best, are arbitrary and resources to doctors and professionals
for shorthand, rather than something that is some ultimate determinator of
diagnosing illnesses. Research reveals this is actually a very arbitrary book
with controversies.
No, those online tests aren’t accurate checklists either for the same or
similar reasons, nor are they typically professionally constructed.
Most of what people diagnose
themselves with on here is not a diagnosable condition, or it is clinically
inaccurate/controversial.
Now this is a major point.
People will put disorders on their blog that cannot
co-occur, is not a diagnosable condition, or is somehow clinically
controversial, uncommon, impossible, or inaccurate.
Bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder? OR Schizophrenia and
schizoaffective disorder? You cannot have them both. Schizoaffective disorder
is a mood/affective disorder with schizophrenia. You’d be saying you have the
same thing twice.
Major depression and bipolar disorder? You cannot have them both. Bipolar
disorder is already saying you have major depression (with mania/hypomania). It
is not possible for someone to have major depression twice.
Psychosis? This is typically diagnosed as a symptom of a disorder and not as a
diagnosis in itself.
Manic depression and bipolar disorder? They are clinically the same disorder.
A bunch of personality disorders at the age of 15? They are not diagnosed until
adulthood. While it is crucial to
realize the importance of detecting disorders early, and personality disorders
are in some instances diagnosed before adulthood, diagnosing an adolescent with
one is approached extremely cautiously in a clinical setting. The reason for
this is the personality development completely alters throughout life and the
psychosocial stages of development alter, which I explain more in this most
somewhere.
Histrionic and avoidant personality disorder? Extremely clinically
controversial.
Schizophrenia at 13 years old? Except this is clinically uncommon and does not
typically occur. The phases of schizophrenia do not appear in this manner.
You have both PTSD and Acute Stress disorder? Not possible.
I really could go on 10000 pages about this point and most of what I see on
tumblr.
Self-diagnosis is not the same as self-help,
self-awareness, self-assessment, and self-advocacy.
There is a clear line between these two. You can look into your symptoms with
the intent to help yourself and not self-dx. You can express yourself and become
more aware of your struggles, without self-dx. You can “relate” and “look into
what might help make sense of your experiences,” without self-dxing. Heck, you
can even open up to your doctor about a concern you had about relating to a
disorder, without self-dxing!
There is a difference between, “I get angry a lot and I am going to try to
recognize my triggers and find ways to cope with it, maybe even open up to
someone about it.” Compared to, “I get angry a lot– I have BPD.”
In fact, even those diagnosed really shouldn’t give the impression their
diagnosis are trends and such. It’s just the fact that this isn’t ok AT ALL!!
I am not saying that it isn’t ok to post on your about me. Society should never
make someone feel like they have hide their mental disorders, but even to those
who have one, it still would not be appropriate to present it as a trend,
excuse, or the like. For example, although I have BPD, it is still possible for
me to be mean to someone and simply say “it is because of my disorder,” or to
self dx with other disorders, just to name two examples. These are not
appropriate with or without a diagnosis.
I deeply encourage people to stay mindful of
their mental health. Mental health is just as important as physical health.
Self-help books are immensely helpful—I recommend checking out New Harbinger
Publications, as they have many self-help books.
Moreover, online resources can prove helpful, whether it is a discussion or
website about coping, self-help, and/or how to become more aware of our
struggles.
Identifying coping skills, recognizing your triggers, journaling, providing yourself
closure with validation, self-evaluation, and so much more, are helpful and
healthy ways to handle distress. Self-dx is a coping mechanism people often
jump to that is not in itself helpful or a necessary condition.
It is not good for you.
Simply, it is very well possible that if someone is chasing and clinging to
a diagnosis, they’re not accepting themselves. They’re not going to feel better,
and it won’t give them treatment. They are not going to move forward, they
could focus on the possibility of a ton of disorders, possibly exaggerate,
cause anxiety, preoccupations, and more.
There is a huge aspect of denial to some who self-dx, too. Rather than dealing
with the reality of the situation (something unhappy in life may be going on, or
maybe there is the presence of a mental disorder they are missing and pushing
aside because of their own preoccupations) they put all their focus to a label
they determine.
Furthermore,
the fact is it is very much possible the developmental phase of someone to
cause much of the distress. Adolescents aged about 12-19 years are currently in
a psychosocial developmental phase in their life called “identity vs.
confusion.”
This is the adolescent stage of Ericson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development.
Adolescents reach a stage in life where they need to establish themselves,
their independence, interests, friendships, find themselves and their passions,
and find their “group/where they belong.” This clearly can make someone more
likely to search for a cause for their issues. It is simply a fact that many
individuals who self-dx are in this phase.
No, it’s not to say you need to write it off as, “being a teenager.” Regardless
of what it is connected to, it is still hurting you and still something that
needs to be dealt with. What this doesn’t guarantee, however, is the presence
of a mental illness. Puberty, hormones, and stages of development, can tremendously
take a toll on someone, but you don’t need a mental illness to admit you have
struggled in your life before. If you deny this fact, you really don’t know
much about human biology and psychology. It is a fact that physically, one is
undergoing dramatic changes at this phase, and multiple psychological changes
are occurring.
Any sort of event, situation, or perception, that seems to threaten this identity
stage of development, naturally causes intense distress and confusion.
It is called “identity vs. confusion” to explain the psychological development
individuals go through. It is a complex process. Adolescents try to find
harmony, they start to accept or reject parts of themselves to establish who
they are, and so on. They may establish a false
self, feeling as if they act like one person in some settings, but not in
another. Sounds a little bit like a personality disorder to some of you, doesn’t
it? Well, it’s not. It’s entirely different. This is a normal stage of
development.
I don’t want to hear any, “Oh, so you’re saying I’m unhappy because I’m
a teenager?? Because of hormones!! You’re INVALIDATING ME!” or “Oh so you’re
saying a mental illness only exists when diagnosed?????”
No, no. These are arguments I sometimes see brought up on tumblr, and they make
my stomach turn. I did not ever bring up or claim these points, and you will be
minimizing my actual point into a different point that is easier for you to
refute—this is known as the straw man logical fallacy in philosophy. It is a
fact, as mentioned, that your distress and confusion doesn’t guarantee a mental
illness, and whatever the cause, it needs to be dealt with. It’s not any less
important without a mental illness present.
Now, what I won’t say is, “You just have a case of Hypochondriasis
and/or Munchausen syndrome!”
I get extremely annoyed when people argue against self-dx say those who
self-dx must just really have a case of these disorders. First, it seems to
mock those who really have it. It can be very severe, especially when someone
who has it puts themselves in life-threatening situations or self-harm. Second,
it is doing just that—assuming someone has an illness that they very well might
not have (just like self-dx). It is a weak argument, defeats the point, and is
hypocritical. It attacks the person and not the argument (ad hominem). I don’t
blame some of the people who self-dx on here for freaking out at times, because
sometimes, the people who confront them about their self-dx are complete
assholes. Stop it. You’re not showing how self-dx is wrong. You’re just making
us look like bad and illogically expressing your position, even if they did
have hypochondriasis.
It is a smack in the face to those with
mental illnesses and disabilities.
Self-dx very much spreads mockery, and it is insensitive to the mentally ill.
I already mentioned a bit about how it can give us a bad name. I’m sorry to say by the looks of many blogs, their posts, as you can see by the
pictures, it appears to be another internet trend. What would you think just by
a glance? This is not ok. It does not matter which side of the argument you
lean towards—you have to at least see how this is not ok.
Statistically rare or uncommon mental illnesses on here aren’t *rare* anymore
on here. Everyone has it on their blog.
Imagine living with a severe mental illness and everyone on a website claims *this*
and *that* is a symptom, when it’s not, uses the disorder as an excuse to treat
people like shit, or continuously posts about the trend. Additionally, it
shapes the way mental illness is viewed and the way we are treated and addressed
in society.
We are minimized, not taken seriously, mocked, and many of them treat us like a
fashion statement they can go and clone on their “about me page.”
I realize my self-dx of DID is harmful to those with DID. I realize it was not
accurate.
Am I a “bad” person? No. Had they known my situation, I’m sure they’d be
understanding, as I am towards many of you.
Does this suddenly not make it hurtful or harmful? No. It does not provide some
excuse to continue to do so, and it would still not be accurate to claim that it
wasn’t still harmful and wrong in some way at the time.
So, yes, you have a right to be upset if someone comes at you harassing
you about it, calling you a hypochondria patient, etc. I can totally see how
that doesn’t help the case. But seriously, when educated people try to tell you
how problematic it is on all sorts of levels and how it affects the mentally
ill, listen.
“You don’t understand and some people
cannot afford it/grew up abused/have no access:”
This is said with the assumption that those who are against self-dx (me in
this instance) did not grow up in an abusive home and that I actually have
accesses to treatment, which is an assumption you cannot logically make. How do
you know I must not understand what being in that situation is like?
I already covered this point in the difference between self-dx and self-awareness/advocacy
and described how it is possible for one to actually help themselves without
self-dx, which in itself accomplishes nothing.
And if I must (X, X, X)
Disclaimer:
I already wrote a few disclaimers throughout the post, but just to remind
you: Do not waste your time telling me to kill myself over this post, that I
just secretly hate the mentally ill, and whatever illogical claim people on
tumblr go off about now.
Additionally, I am not attacking anyone in any way. I never claimed that
*every* case of self-dx is someone who just trying to seek attention, I never said anyone was “baddd” for doing so, and I
firstly acknowledged the different reasons people do so– I really don’t want
to hear any claim that I said so.
What’s not ableist is asking for people to respect the mentally ill. What is ableist is completely disrespecting and seemingly fetishizing, romanticizing,
and displaying them in this manner
A lot of the time these people are claiming to have impossible combinations of illnesses. Most mental illnesses can be seen in a brain scan, and a lot of the time these lists have self-diagnosed neurologically impossible combinations. It is disrespectful, ableist, and harmful.
This is important information.