Have you ever self-diagnosed yourself with a disorder?

[CH1YO]

Ontological Empiricism

CH1YO

It is quite easy to present symptoms when you know what they are and have an interest in their being recognised.

Because everyone wants to take Prozac, Celexa, or Zoloft for shiggles, right CH1YO?

Not everyone, I for one do not, wants to take such things but as is appropriate for a marvel of marketing such as they are very popular things.

[CH1YO]

Ontological Empiricism

AliKat1988

Ontological Empiricism

Because everyone wants to take Prozac, Celexa, or Zoloft for shiggles, right CH1YO?

I think the point she is trying to make is self diagnoses can foster cognitive biases, so that you are extra attentive to the symptoms of the disorder that you believe you have. You then end up behaving even more like the disorder. Self diagnoses can involve expectancy effects and selective attention to symptoms that support your condition while ignoring the absence of key symptoms or presence of symptoms that indicate an alternative disorder.

While that may be true, it's not something I really wanted to portray. I'd been suffering the signs and symptoms for quite a while, before I looked up Major Depression Disorder on the good ol' world-wide-web and said "This could probably be what it is that is happening." So again I ask, what is the harm in being armed with knowledge about what could be the cause before going to a doctor when seeking help for thoughts of self-mutilation and suicide?

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Also arming yourself on the basis of self destructive ideation sounds like a bad idea.

[Bootiful Lia]

Ontological Empiricism

Bootiful Lia

Ontological Empiricism

I actually gave a self-diagnosis of major depression here recently, as I am suffering from several symptoms such as loss of appetite, fatigue, feeling helpless/hopeless and guilty, trouble sleeping (coupled with excessive sleeping), loss of interest, and I've had thoughts of self-mutilation and suicide.

I've thought about going to see a doctor, to confirm it (though I'd rather not take antidepressants if I didn't have to), but my family doctor is ~1 hour away from where I live, so I'm not quite sure I want to drive the distance.

This is where I raise an eye-brow at people self-diagnosing themselves with major depression. They say they have major depression and are suffering from what is, in and of itself, a crippling mental disorder...but then are like, "Meh...1 hour to get some help? Nah, I'm good."

If you were suffering from a crippling mental illness, you'd walk to the ends of the earth to alleviate the pain.

For your information, I went to the doctor, and my self-diagnosis was confirmed (as it was a little bit ago that I wrote the post).
It's funny, how you assume you know my situation, because I say I don't want to drive the hour distance. If you aren't very aware...gasoline is pretty expensive. It takes $40 to fill my car. I am out of the job, at the moment. The person funding me is my mother. So my agenda has to fit around her budget.
She also doesn't believe I have depression, and that I'm some sort of hypochondriac, as she has been that way since I was around 12- to 14-years-old.
So even though you think I should "walk to the ends of the Earth" to "alleviate the pain" if I was really suffering from major depression, that's not quite practical when nothing is free.

For one, I never said you didn't have it. I just said that when people make comments as you did, it's where I get skeptical. Because my life revolves around dealing with people with debilitating mental illness, I see how crippling it is. So I see what has to be done. I'm not trying to invalidate your experiences or feelings, but I do sometimes feel like some people mistake sadness for depression, if you understand where I'm coming from.

And I've also encountered a lot of people (especially on these forums) who pull the whole, "Yea, I totes suffer from a severe and debilitating mental illness that I diagnosed myself with after I tooked a shoddy internet quiz but I cured myself when I read this book once. Never gone to a therapist, treatment, or been on meds," so at this point, I've become very skepticle, especially on the internet.

[Queen Of Wonderland]

CH1YO

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Also arming yourself on the basis of self destructive ideation sounds like a bad idea.

I agree with this; with mental illnesses being brought not into the spotlight but further into the public gaze (under the banner of tolerance, education and accommodation) it's difficult to avoid all knowledge. You absorb scraps of knowledge and no matter how correct a scrap may be it's incomplete. It damn near doubles the necessity to get a professional diagnosis.

I thought I knew about bipolar disorder when I was 13 (blame a children's book). Then I thought I knew about bipolar disorder when I was 18. Now I think I know a bit more about bipolar disorder. I might even go so far as to say, in my patchy ignorance, I might be able to emphasise with a Bipolar II diagnosis. But I don't have it, and frankly I don't want it.

Though I'm no poster child, a little maturity and coaxing some objectivity out of yourself is a good way to stop yourself 'hoping you have' a disorder/illness/syndrome which I feel is a legitimate factor in self-diagnosis - forgive me for being anecdotal but I've been there. It gives you a sense of validity, it authenticates how bad you are feeling and gives you something to lean on.

Unlike knowing how to spot signs of physical disease before it fully manifests, learning in part how your mental health is functioning is a bad idea. The mind is fluid and will twist under observation, and will twist further (in corresponding or contradictory extremes) under expectation and it is not entirely due to subconscious processes. You might not want to mention the extra bottle of wine on Sunday to the vicar, or you might want to make sure the coach knows that you scored the decisive point that match, and you might want the doctor to think that you are hearing voices more and more and more; you have lied, you have dismissed other contributors, you have exagerrated. Objectivity is sometimes in short supply.

[CH1YO]

Queen Of Wonderland

CH1YO

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Also arming yourself on the basis of self destructive ideation sounds like a bad idea.

I agree with this; with mental illnesses being brought not into the spotlight but further into the public gaze (under the banner of tolerance, education and accommodation) it's difficult to avoid all knowledge. You absorb scraps of knowledge and no matter how correct a scrap may be it's incomplete. It damn near doubles the necessity to get a professional diagnosis.

This is quite a good condensed version of the problem.

Queen Of Wonderland

I thought I knew about bipolar disorder when I was 13 (blame a children's book). Then I thought I knew about bipolar disorder when I was 18. Now I think I know a bit more about bipolar disorder. I might even go so far as to say, in my patchy ignorance, I might be able to emphasise with a Bipolar II diagnosis. But I don't have it, and frankly I don't want it.

If exposure to bipolar people has taught me anything it is that it is perplexing at the very least.

Queen Of Wonderland

Though I'm no poster child, a little maturity and coaxing some objectivity out of yourself is a good way to stop yourself 'hoping you have' a disorder/illness/syndrome which I feel is a legitimate factor in self-diagnosis - forgive me for being anecdotal but I've been there. It gives you a sense of validity, it authenticates how bad you are feeling and gives you something to lean on.

It is the primary motive force, largely as it represents an exemption from responsibility.

Queen Of Wonderland

Unlike knowing how to spot signs of physical disease before it fully manifests, learning in part how your mental health is functioning is a bad idea. The mind is fluid and will twist under observation, and will twist further (in corresponding or contradictory extremes) under expectation and it is not entirely due to subconscious processes. You might not want to mention the extra bottle of wine on Sunday to the vicar, or you might want to make sure the coach knows that you scored the decisive point that match, and you might want the doctor to think that you are hearing voices more and more and more; you have lied, you have dismissed other contributors, you have exagerrated. Objectivity is sometimes in short supply.

To make a mountain of a mole hill.

[Queen Of Wonderland]

CH1YO

It is the primary motive force, largely as it represents an exemption from responsibility.

---

To make a mountain of a mole hill.

Succinct - something I can never manage.

[CH1YO]

Queen Of Wonderland

CH1YO

It is the primary motive force, largely as it represents an exemption from responsibility.

---

To make a mountain of a mole hill.

Succinct - something I can never manage.

You can manage without.

[AliKat1988]

Ontological Empiricism

AliKat1988

Ontological Empiricism

Because everyone wants to take Prozac, Celexa, or Zoloft for shiggles, right CH1YO?

I think the point she is trying to make is self diagnoses can foster cognitive biases, so that you are extra attentive to the symptoms of the disorder that you believe you have. You then end up behaving even more like the disorder. Self diagnoses can involve expectancy effects and selective attention to symptoms that support your condition while ignoring the absence of key symptoms or presence of symptoms that indicate an alternative disorder.

While that may be true, it's not something I really wanted to portray. I'd been suffering the signs and symptoms for quite a while, before I looked up Major Depression Disorder on the good ol' world-wide-web and said "This could probably be what it is that is happening." So again I ask, what is the harm in being armed with knowledge about what could be the cause before going to a doctor when seeking help for thoughts of self-mutilation and suicide?

Yes I realize that, but cognitive biases are not about wanting to have a disorder. You can strongly believe something, not want it to be true, and still be inclined to see it due to pure expectations that make you see evidence. As an extreme example I doubt people with paranoid delusions want to believe people are out to get them-they just believe people are to get them and see the evidence every where.

Of course, I can actually see how someone might want a diagnosis. It is not about wanting to be ill, but wanting to be able to explain the problems you know you have. Summarizing problems with a single term can make a rather chaotic mess of problems seem more ordered. Being able to give your problem a name also allows for a chance to see causes and solutions that may not have been as obvious.

[Bootiful Lia]

AliKat1988

Ontological Empiricism

AliKat1988

Ontological Empiricism

Because everyone wants to take Prozac, Celexa, or Zoloft for shiggles, right CH1YO?

I think the point she is trying to make is self diagnoses can foster cognitive biases, so that you are extra attentive to the symptoms of the disorder that you believe you have. You then end up behaving even more like the disorder. Self diagnoses can involve expectancy effects and selective attention to symptoms that support your condition while ignoring the absence of key symptoms or presence of symptoms that indicate an alternative disorder.

While that may be true, it's not something I really wanted to portray. I'd been suffering the signs and symptoms for quite a while, before I looked up Major Depression Disorder on the good ol' world-wide-web and said "This could probably be what it is that is happening." So again I ask, what is the harm in being armed with knowledge about what could be the cause before going to a doctor when seeking help for thoughts of self-mutilation and suicide?

Yes I realize that, but cognitive biases are not about wanting to have a disorder. You can strongly believe something, not want it to be true, and still be inclined to see it due to pure expectations that make you see evidence. As an extreme example I doubt people with paranoid delusions want to believe people are out to get them-they just believe people are to get them and see the evidence every where.

Of course, I can actually see how someone might want a diagnosis. It is not about wanting to be ill, but wanting to be able to explain the problems you know you have. Summarizing problems with a single term can make a rather chaotic mess of problems seem more ordered. Being able to give your problem a name also allows for a chance to see causes and solutions that may not have been as obvious.

On another note, also, the web can only provide you with a certain amount of knowledge as to how disorders work. Without having a full knowledge to how ALL disorders work, including how physical and mental symptoms can work together and manifest in each other, you cannot self diagnose yourself accurately. In order to be able to accurately diagnose yourself, you have to have a deep understanding of mental illness, because disorders can be comorbid with each other, or depending upon how the symptoms are presenting themselves can actually be a different disorder entirely. Just because you are suffering a deep depression doesn't actually mean that you have major depression. Suffering a major depression can indicate an anxiety disorder. Suffering a major depression can indicate a personality disorder. Suffering a major depression can even indicate a whole plethora of medical disorders. This is why self diagnosis is not effective. Because google searches can only get you to step one. Not an end result.

[Incinerated Innocence]

No, although I was fairly sure I had depression before I was diagnosed. I also think I have some sort of anxiety disorder, because I've been having panic attacks daily for the past month or so. I hate it when people self-diagnose, though, so I'm not going to tell people that I have an anxiety disorder/anxiety issues, although many people have enquired after seeing me hyperventilating in school sweatdrop

[Special Agent Odd]

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°°°°°°°°°°°°°°So do you ω α η η α to ω α ş т ε some т ı м ε tonight?°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

███████D████α████η████η████ı████✖✖

I self-diagnosed my OCD, Anxiety, and Dermotillomania, and my doctors informed me that my suspicions were correct.
My Dissociative Identity Disorder is legit diagnosed.

✖✖✖██████████████████████████████████

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°We are all ı ℓ ℓ υ м ı η α ţ ε ∂ , lights are ş н ı η ı η g on our faces,°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

в ℓ ı η ∂ ı η ģ

[Manguusu]

I've never self-diagnosed myself. I've suspected I've had stuff that I was diagnosed with later, but I never went around saying "I have X" when I didn't have an official diagnosis. My suspicions lead to me seeking help, and then I let the doctor/psych determine what I actually have.
Example A: If I'm sick I just tell the doctor my symptoms and let them go from there.
Example B: I suspected I had Asperger's syndrome after reading the symptoms and looking back on my life/talking to family members about my behaviors in the past and whatnot. But, because I'm not an expert and had no experience in the field, I brought it up to my psych while being treated for depression. We looked into everything and sure enough she came to the same conclusion I did and another: ADD.

[koimilk]

Eh, I've looked at symptoms of things and said,"MY GOD I DO THAT I MUST HAVE THIS OH NO" but then I get over it because I seem to have at least one symptom of everything hahaaha

[sammet]

Yes, I have. But the important thing is to realize that we are not qualified to diagnose ourselves or anyone else, so even if we meet the criteria for different issues it still might be something else. In my case, my self-diagnosis proved correct by doctors - albeit several years later.

[Project 429]

Insomnia... does that count?