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Don’t do it yourself: The risks of self-diagnosing mental health issues
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Offline counseling: Recognizing feelings of psychological discomfort and seeking professional help when necessary are important.(Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema) (Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema)
A
s mental health awareness grows, so has the troubling phenomenon of youths diagnosing themselves with a certain mental condition, ranging from anxiety to depression.
Self-diagnosing refers to the act of diagnosing oneself with a disorder or disease based on information or knowledge acquired independently. Someone who self-diagnoses assumes they know the health issues they are experiencing. When someone experiences frequent mood swings, they may think they have bipolar disorder.
Mood swings can be a sign of several different mental disorders. Diagnoses such as bipolar disorder, as well as major depression, for instance, are also possible.
According to Azizatul Adni, a psychologist at Lombok-based psychological service provider Bale Psikologi (House of Psychology) in West Nusa Tenggara, while sharing information about mental health may have raised public awareness, it can also lead people to self-diagnose the psychological discomfort they feel. This can be dangerous as these assumptions can prove to be false.
"Self-diagnosing can lead to individuals labeling themselves. These labels are often accompanied by awful feelings and thoughts about oneself, aggravating their psychological problems and [making them] more unstable," Azizatul said, adding that self-diagnosis may also cause individuals to attribute their actions to the label given.
Why do people self-diagnose?
