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Self-Diagnosing via the Internet
Topic Started: Dec 5 2009, 06:38 PM (585 Views)
Sarika
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Picciotto
I frequent Yahoo! Answers Mental Health board. I'm there to support people when they need it or offer advice. It calms me down when I'm stressed. What disturbs me is that people come on self-diagnosing themselves. A common problem is self-diagnosing bipolar disorder. They say "I am sad one minute and happy the next, I know I have bipolar disorder". Okay, no you don't! Bipolar disorder is serious, the episodes last weeks, months, years. It frustrates the hell out of me when people do this, I have it I know what it's like. I also have to point out that people will notice the episodes. They are extreme mood changes and can even get to the point of psychosis. I was recently manic and just started taking my meds again (forced to really). You should have seen me, I was throwing myself into walls, screaming for no reason and talking so fast. I was hearing things and seeing things. Time was distorted and my memory was shot completely. I was threatened to be taken to the ER because I was losing contact with reality. PEOPLE NOTICED IT!!! Bipolar disorder isn't feeling sad because you failed a test and then laughing with your friends at lunch. So many people are thinking this and it's like I want to scream at them. Okay rant over on that. But another thing with the self-diagnosing is that people are refusing to see a doctor for actual diagnosis.

Okay, so I'd like to hear your opinions on this issue.


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Miranda
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The Godmother
A similar problem is people who self diagnose their children with autism/Aspergers. Bad idea; especially since a lot of parents see both disorders as an excuse for them not to actually parent their children. Also, it cheapens what genuine suffers go thru and makes people not believe they are sufferers. I have Aspergers; however, mine is doctor diagnosed. I also do not see it as a reason to act like a total bitch, unlike some people with their stupid self diagnoses. One girl on another forum diagnosed herself purely due to the results of some online test she took... on Quizilla. :rolleyes:
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Kitty
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As a psychology student, I think self-diagnosis is incredibly dangerous and its a set back for people who do have an illness, but have to deal with kids who do not understand it. As much as people can read on the internet, unless they are a trained, unbiased professional, they cannot diagnose themselves for mental illnesses. As you have pointed out, changing emotions isn't bipolar disorder. It has more to do with manic episodes than "oh my, I'm sad!" and, in fact, there is no requirement of being depressed to be diagnosed with Bipolar I(though depressive episodes can occur with it and often do). On top of that, these self-diagnosers fail to realize there are many different types of depression or that "omgz changing moodz" is not the only requirement. There are lots of symptoms of depression(ranging from eating too much, sleeping too little, restlessness to trouble concentrating and loss of energy). While a depressed mood is required, you need to have other symptoms too and there are time requirements for most illnesses as well as the requirement of being significantly distressed or disabled by it.

I don't think this is a problem with teens alone either. I noticed many parents seem to have taken it upon themselves to diagnose their children as "autistic", "depressed", or "psychotic" and have no understanding of the actual illness.

Personally, I find it insulting. I know many people go "oh, I'm so anxious about public speaking! I have social phobia!" and its just so annoying because they have no clue what its like to be afraid to interact with people or just be anxious in general. Same goes for depression. I do have depressive episodes and its just disappointing to see people trivialize it by going "oh, I cut", "oh, I'm so sad", "oh, I just don't want to do anything". People who do this are the reason why those with mental illness are not taken as seriously as they should be.
Edited by Kitty, Dec 5 2009, 07:10 PM.
"Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty."-John Lennon
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Miranda
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The Godmother
I suffered from clinical depression at one point, and it makes me really angry when I see teenagers bleating, "I've got depression; I'm soooo depressed!" when all they have is teenage angst. Real depression isn't just feeling sad; it's much more than that.
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Wolfie
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I cannot stand people who self-diagnose; well, except for people who are reasonable about it and express their findings to doctors who will actually listen to them and help them if the condition does match them. I have a friend who is ADD AND Bipolar; however, I wonder if, maybe, his doctor misdiagnosed him, as his medicines I think make him worse. He's alternatively happy then mellow then really angry and right back again, even on his medication, and I wonder if maybe there's more to it than just a chemical imbalance in his brain as his home life is suckish.

In regards to people who self-diagnose depression. Some of them may be spot on; I've known several people who definitely exhibit the sort of behavior I grew up seeing in my own house. Moodiness, a listlessness, and a lack of interest in things. They don't want to do much of anything with other people. While they refuse to admit anything might be wrong, I worry.

In regards to the teen angsters, some of them I want to smack upside the head.

My reason for such a response is this: My mother suffers from a disorder called dysthymia. She was officially diagnosed with it this year and was on a medicine that she said 'made her feel funny;' she told her doctor that she didn't like the feeling and she has since been put on Prozac. I can definitely attest that she has been happier, more productive, and less... well, bothered by things. She talks a lot more, she smiles and laughs more, she's a lot more agreeable and less crabby. And even better - she's starting to enjoy LIFE.

There is a group for it on Facebook called Dysthymia Awareness, and this description comes from it:

Dysthymia is a mental illness that affects less than 10% of Americans. It is a low-grade, chronic depression that seriously affects people socially, mentally, and physically. Those with dythsymia may feel that they have been depressed for their whole lives, so that the irritibility, sadness, hopelessness, and low self-esteem appears to be a part of their personality. Because of this, many people do not seek the help they need and deserve. This group exists to spread awareness of this little-spoken-about illness and, hopefully, show that sadness is not a part of life, just a part of the disease.

Edit: K, so that didn't work, just look it up on your own if you can please. x_x;
Edited by Wolfie, Dec 5 2009, 07:58 PM.
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Sarika
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Does it bother anyone else when the term depressed is used in a care-free way? People say "oh I'm so depressed I'm going to cut myself". I heard this alot in high school and I ended up snapping at people, I hate ignorance. I wonder why there isn't more teaching about what mental illness really is. I've always had a thought of wanting to talk about my experience with mental illness and what it's really about. I just feel that there are some people who are truly suffering from a mental illness and are afriad to say it because of a) the stigma and b) the fact that they think they'll be "locked up". It's portrayed often in the media that people with mental illness are "insane" or "crazy" and that they need to be "locked up". It's not true! Sure some need hospitalization in extreme cases, but if one is suffering from depression there is no need (except in the case of severe suicidal thoughts of behaviors). My heart goes out to those suffering in silence.


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Kitty
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Wolfie, some people actually don't respond to medications. Usually bipolar is pretty treatable, but you have to be willing to stay on the medication and get therapy too. My guess is he's on anticonvulsants when he should be on lithium(they are mood stabilizers). For some reason, some people don't respond to anticonvulsants, though they are the preferred med for treatment. I imagine the doctor won't put him on lithium either because it clashes with his ADD medication or because of the side effects(kidney failure is a possibility with lithium to do its toxicity). If he's not seeing a psychologist, its very possible his general physician isn't giving him the right meds. Just a guess though. Treatment is a long process and often there are a lot of relapses with it because people don't stay on their medication.

Depression is a pretty wide-spread illness, but even if self-diagnosis is correct, what are they going to do? A self diagnosis is one thing, but they can't really treat themselves. They need to go to a psychologist and be properly diagnosed in an unbiased manner. Then they need to discuss treatment options(usually, CBT and meds, but some psychologists use different methods).

The problem is depression is a part of several illnesses. There are some illnesses that are mainly psychosis that have depression as a part of them too(like schizoaffective disorder). I don't think they can evaluate in the same way a psychologist can because typically a person just focuses on one illness instead of using true methods. A clinical interview always needs to happen to determine what sort of symptoms someone is having and also some people don't even recognize symptoms because they are physical(jitteriness, for example) that a psychologist might notice. Its just very difficult to really do it on your own without training and basically you are taking a shot in the dark.

Of course, there are some things that are easily recognizable(panic attacks and generally panic disorder can be easily diagnosed) and self-diagnosis can be a helpful tool to give psychologists something to consider, though usually self-diagnosers only go along a checklist and go "omg, I have it!" rather than think they might have more symptoms than that.

Dysthymia is often a terrible illness because so few people get it diagnosed. Its a shame since its incredibly treatable. I'm glad your mother is getting help :) Outcomes for recovery are amazing(one study found 74% recovered in a 10-year follow up). Granted, that group's number are wrong. Its actually roughly 5%, which is less than Major Depressive Disorder(the two can be link together in a third disorder, which is worse than both).

I'm rambling D:

Edit: Just saw Sarika's post.

It does bother me actually. I think there is a big distinction between being "depressed" and being "sad". Sadness is so mild compared to actual depression, but I chalk this up to inexperience. While they may have had those moments of really deep sadness(like because of a death or a tragic incident), its just not the same as that lack of desire or the guilt.

I've actually considered the same as you, Sarika, and actually have tried to venture out this year more to talk about it. To help overcome my anxiety, I've been trying to inform more people about it and finally have begun to open up to my friends about it. I think people need to be required to learn about mental illness. There is a huge number of people who suffer from at least one in their lifetime, yet there is no open education about it. Sure, plenty of people take a basic psych course, but they don't touch illnesses generally.

That reminds me, you should read this really great book Sarika. I read excerpts from it in my class and its really good. Its about this psychologist who suffers from bipolar disorder and her discussion of it. She really manages to get across the illness well.
http://www.amazon.com/Unquiet-Mind-Memoir-Moods-Madness/dp/0679763309
Edited by Kitty, Dec 5 2009, 08:26 PM.
"Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty."-John Lennon
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Sarika
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Picciotto
I've seen that book, don't have it though. Dr. Jamison is on YouTube talking about her experience...let me find the video...it's called Personal Reflections on Manic-Depressive Illness and it's rather interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxRLap9xLag


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Miranda
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The Godmother
To me, comparing teenage angst/sadness to depression is like comparing pricking your finger to having your arm cut off. There's just no comparing the two.

When I was depressed, the best way I can describe it is if you opened the curtains and saw that the whole world had turned grey. I couldn't be bothered to get out of bed, cept to eat and go to the bathroom. I didn't shower, I didn't wash my hair, I just lay in bed and wanted to die.
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Hayley
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My mother was clinically depressed and hospitalized a few times for her depression. So I'm absolutely LIVID when some teenagers do the whole, "OMG, life sucks! I'm soooo depressed! I'mma cut myself now!" Depression isn't like that. My mum would do nothing but stay in the basement, where she slept, smoked, and drank. She had very little contact with anyone, and barely ate. This went on for months, when we put her in the hospital for about a month. She was better for a couple more months, and then relapsed, and we sent her to the hospital again for another few weeks (granted this time it wasn't just about the depression, but her drinking problem as well). It's been about 3 or 4 years now, and she's not much better. She's not as depressed, but the effects of her depression (her anorexia, alcoholism, obsession with cigarettes) have caused so many health problems, I don't think she'll ever be 100% anymore.

Like Miranda said, comparing angst/sadness to depression... there's no comparison. If you fail a test, you don't become "depressed"... geez. >.<
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singergirl509
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I have ADD and a minor, and I mean MINOR, Bipolar II. My ADD is pretty severe, seeing as I take 80mg Strattera, while my Bipolar is only like 100mg, which is pretty low for most people. However, my mom is Bipolar II as well. I honestly think that I don't need my medication because I feel like I can control it fairly well. I don't go completely manic, I just get hyper or serious, but mainly serious. My thoughts race at a very high speed and there are times when I can't sleep very well, but that is also due to my ADD.

For example, this last week, I have been going to be fairly early. Honestly, this is the latest I have stayed up all week (starting from Monday.) Monday I fell asleep right about 8:00pm and last night (Tuesday) I fell asleep between 5 and 6 o'clock pm. I go through weeks where I stay up really late, plus I also am trying to get homework done, but I also just cannot sleep. Honestly, I could easily fall asleep right now and wake up tomorrow at 5-5:30 and get ready for school.

I do go through espisodes of a depression but I don't get that feeling of just staying in bed and doing nothing. I still get up and take showers, eat, go to school, and everything like that but I feel worthless, unimportant, and just like a piece of shit. I don't want to talk to people, but I do because I don't want my friends to worry. I care deeply for my friends and I do try to hide my depressive state from them. The only person I really don't hide them from is from my best friend, we are practically like sisters, and even if I would try to, she would notice.

When I am in my depressive state, I don't care about anything, my self-esteem is extremely fragile and one little critizing word or harsh word could pretty much make me even worse, and I get extremely irritable, moody, and frankly, a bit crazier. But like I said, I don't have the major depressive states. I have cut before, but not like a massive cut. I more or less just stratch myself, create bruises, or pull my hair, and thats more when my stressed.

I don't know, I feel like I am being mistreated for Bipolar II but I'm also not so sure at the same time.

Just my thoughts!
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Kiwi_Kat
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Picciotto
I can understand where some people are coming from when they self diagnose. For those that can't afford health care they are just doing whatever they can to get better and I get that. But when they take it over board by comparing mild conditions to serious symptoms and drastically over playing things, it just becomes rediculous! I myself will occasionally look at places such as Yahoo! Ask, to see if my stomach pains are just cramps or something more serious like apendecitis, because with something like that, it is a very difficult distinction (just ask my doctors. It took them 3 days to figure it out.). So as long as you don't use the internet to diagnose anything serious, and then freak out about it, I don't find it that big of a problem.
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Miranda
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It IS a big problem. -.- If someone say, self diagnoses their mental problem as being depression when in fact it's something more serious like schizophrenia, they could be putting themselves or even others in danger. If a mother tags her child with AHDD just so they can fail on parenting and instead stuff their little precious with drugs, it's going to be a problem later on in life. If a person calls themselves depressed or anorexic when they're not, then it just cheapens the problems of someone with a genuine problem.
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Kiwi_Kat
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True, there is the problem of wrong treatmeant, but that's why I'm saying people should only use the Internet to diagnose minor illnesses. But I could also see someone using the Internet to just get a basic idea of what MIGHT be ailling them be it depression or anorexia, and then talking to a doctor to get an official diagnoses. But I do agree with neglagent parents using things like ADD or ADHD as an exuse for their bad parenting.
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Miranda
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The Godmother
I really loath it when I see parents doing that. Another fashionable diagnosis is autism and Aspergers. -.- Especially when parents self diagnose their liddle pwecious at age two or under, where a lot of kids have symptoms of Aspergers that are just normal toddler behaviour. :rolleyes: Wait til they reach school age first, then take them to a doctor. And be prepared to be told that your child is just the victim of poor parenting.
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Kiwi_Kat
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And that sort of stuff is very damaging for a developing child. If someone grew up thinking they were mentally disabled, they wouldn't understand how to lead a normal lifestyle.
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Miranda
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The Godmother
Not to mention any drugs that they're given. O_o
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Kiwi_Kat
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My mother offten uses internet websites to research illnesses when me and my brother get sick. Sometimes she's spot on, other times the things she claims ails us, are way worse than what we really have.
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Aaron
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I have my own little way of dealing with the wannabe depressed. They go "I'm so depressed, I'm gonna cut myself..." So I reply "My aunt hung herself for no reason at all, and you're saying you're depressed because Linda flipped you a well deserved finger at lunch. Yeah. Right"

It shuts them up fast.

While I'm a little blurry on the subject of what actually causes depression, what it is in its exactness, etc, I know this: Anyone who pretends to have an illness they don't is tempting fate and crying wolf at once. They'll suck it when they're locked away in an asylum, and none of the men in white coats will listen to "But I was just faking it to be emo!" And will instead answer them with a nice shot of sedative in the arm. Hah.
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belladoggy
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So, it's very clear you're all against self-diagnosing, but what about self-un-diagnosing? I'm guessing since the two are so close, people have very similar standpoints on that issue as well. My thing is, I've been diagnosed with Aspberger's, but if I do really have it, it's extremely, and I mean extremely, mild. I've been seeing my psychiatrist for at least 7 years, so i suppose she knows me pretty well, but I'm highly interested in brain functioning (partly due to her), and everything I've read about the condition says that I don't have severe enough symptom's to have it. In fact, I know the main reason I've been diagnosed with it is because I have trouble connecting with people socially. But I have no issues reading emotions, or experiencing them; everything I've read (and it's not all from the internet) says one of the biggest issues for people with AS is an inability to interpret emotion, i.e., they can't read facial expressions, so they have trouble knowing when they've said or done something socially unacceptable. That's not me. If anything, I put too much weight into emotion....but I'll do what my doctor says anyway. It just gets confusing because my diagnosis conflicts with the information I'm studying (yes, I plan on studying these kinds of things in college, that's how much I'm interested in them).

The other issue, like Miranda mentioned before, is that often times people see being diagnosed with a condition such as ADHD, ADD, AS, or any other number of common diagnoses as an excuse to act rude, mean, inattentive, and entitled. I can't stand people like that because they don't realize the real issues going on for people who constantly struggle with those conditions, and as a result a treated with a serious stigma. However, it also bugs me when people assume that everyone is just faking their diagnoses, and say to people like me, who do struggle with anxiety, that we're just doing it to get attention. See, my anxiety problems aren't typical teen angst (though I experience that to), they're full on panic attacks, and I feel sorry for everyone in my house who has to deal with them, especially when they happen at three in the morning. Adderoll=not a good medication for me. No way. Made me absolutely crazy, throwing things and screaming and refusing to sleep...ugh, that was not a fun experiences.

Speaking of, what are your thoughts on people who do self-diagnose, and end up getting medications for "friends" that have real diagnoses? Who is more at fault for the consequences? I think both parties are equally guilty, because the self-diagnoser should realize that medications actually mess with the chemical balance (or imbalance, if you are suffering from a condition) in your brain. Likewise, the "friend" should be aware of the dangers of giving anyone other than themselves they're medications, especially when different dosages are taken into account.
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