Apocalyptic Bloodsucker

S n a z z y
Ok
Many of the people who are online blogging or posting about their self-diagnosed mental illness are teenagers. This is the identity stage. The internet is a powerful resource available that offers information of the subjects and also COMMUNITY. When people 'boast' about a mental illness it gives them a sense of BELONGING and it also gives them an ANSWER/SOLUTION to their inner turmoil.
The fact of the matter is - life goes in cycles. We all feel up and down all the time - sometimes the cycles are quicker than other and there are many factors (hormones, environment et cetera)
When people can google a list of symptoms for depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder there is a sort of comfort in labeling their issues to sort of detach the personal responsibility factor from the problem. Not to sound harsh - but its often used as an excuse to not seek help (help is found within the self and can also be seeked professionally) When the person takes on this new "identity" of a "mental illness" they are living with the ego and not the heart which is a huge issue. Yes - there really are people out there who suffer from mental illness but it is so difficult to diagnose. Often times when people discover that they feel some symptoms they rush to the doctor who prescribes them medication with sometimes helps but more often than not disturbs the body's natural ability to heal itself. This complicates things down the road. Conventional western medicine has a pill for everything and its terrifying...


This. I agree with this.
The worst part about medication is, a lot of time younger people (and older people for that matter) can go to a general physician and say "I'm having anxiety problems" and the doctor will prescribe them benzodiazepines. The problem is they might not actually be having clinical anxiety or need medication, and there is a whirlwind of problems that result from the medication. When in reality, if they went into CBT they could learn what is causing their anxiety and how to overcome it.

The problem with self-diagnosing, in my opinion, is that yeah, there are a lot of things that can apply to each person. However, to have a disorder that requires help means that your daily functioning is impaired by these problems. That's not to say if you have a problem you shouldn't seek help, because if you're feeling depressed or anxious or having trouble coping or anything you should definitely seek treatment. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have a full blown disorder. Meanwhile, people do assume that because they are feeling down that they have depression, and then say things like "I can't seek treatment, they'll definitely give me medication and I don't believe in meds and I don't want people to know." Without even looking into the different types of therapy that can help them overcome this. Rather, they blame not wanting to do anything on their depression.