reminder
Better reminder that self-diagnosis is psychologically harmful, especially to potentially mentally-ill people.
There is literally no benefit to self-diagnosis. Without a proper diagnosis, you cannot receive treatment or medication. If you choose to seek out medications online, you put yourself at risk of receiving pills that are either tainted with poisons, or are merely placebos. If you don’t have money, there absolutely are still places that will treat you, or programs you can enter that will help you with the costs.
Doctors are not permitted to diagnose themselves for the same reason that you shouldn’t, either: You are working on a bias, and only searching for what YOU believe you might have. In the process, you could be overlooking much more serious symptoms of a much more serious illness, and seek out the wrong treatment. You are also not qualified to calculate how medications will affect you based on family history, diet, or exercise levels, nor how they may react to other medications. Furthermore, a false diagnosis may create problems of its own, including anxiety and depression.
Most people that are serious about managing their health in order to overcome their symptoms do not self-diagnose. The main proponents of self-diagnosis are those who are either completely unaware of financial solutions, or those looking for a means of attention, which is already psychologically unhealthy (occasionally a sign of Munchausen syndrome).
Sources for further reading:
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/debunking-myths-the-mind/201005/the-dangers-self-diagnosis
- http://www.dualdiagnosis.org/dual-diagnosis-treatment/dangers-self-diagnosis/
- http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/cyberchondria-0
- https://badgerherald.com/opinion/2014/10/23/misguided-self-diagnosis-trivializes-mental-illness/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munchausen_syndrome
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factitious_disorder
- http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/factitious-disorders
- http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/faking-mental-illness/
- http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248145.php
- http://www.livescience.com/34846-medical-website-self-diagnosis-cyberchondria.html
- http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/recoveringfrommentalillness/2013/01/mental-illness-do-not-diagnose-yourself-pt-1/
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2131275/Danger-Dr-Google-25-cent-women-misdiagnose-internet.html




