Impact of Mental Health Self Diagnosis

At present, many are already aware that mental health also needs attention. The proof, more and more are seeing a psychologist or to a health facility when feeling stressed and depressed. Unfortunately, some people even do their own mental health diagnosis which is not necessarily accurate. For example, when stress comes, many people make their own self-diagnosis of mental health.

Basically, self-diagnosis is not always bad. Because, sometimes there are some health conditions that you can only realize yourself. Meanwhile, other people sometimes only know the surface, without knowing more about what is happening to you.

Self-diagnosis of mental health indicates that you are aware that something unusual is happening to you. This is good, but you shouldn’t just stop at self-diagnosis itself.

In fact, to find out whether your mental health is really disturbed or not, self-diagnosis is only used as a start. In the future, you can immediately see a professional medical expert who can help you with your self-diagnosis. For example, you can go see a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Meanwhile, self-diagnosis is often misinterpreted as the only diagnosis needed. That is, after doing so, you might prefer to immediately take medication without the help of experts. In fact, the flow is precisely the potential to endanger yourself or at least exacerbate the conditions that you experience.

Although self-diagnosis is a good start to understanding more about your mental health condition, it can also have a bad effect if it is not used properly. The following are two risks that may occur due to the origin of self-diagnosis.

Incorrect Diagnosis

The symptoms found during self diagnosis can be misunderstood as a sign of a certain mental health disorder. In fact, these symptoms can be a sign of some type of mental illness or even other physical illness.

For example, you feel your mood changes frequently. Then, you do a self diagnosis of the condition and think that you have a mental health disorder in the form of manic depression. In fact, mood swings that constantly occur can be a sign of other mental disorders. For example acute depression or borderline personality disorder.

If you just stop at self-diagnosis and don’t immediately consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, you can miss more important details. For example, from the self diagnosis you make, you decide to take certain precautions or treatments. You may feel that both of these are sufficient and appropriate. In fact, it could be a solution that you decide for yourself is just wrong.

Therefore, it would be better if you go to see a professional medical expert for further diagnosis. You may mention the results of the self diagnosis that you have done to help the psychologist or psychiatrist more quickly find problems from the mental health you are experiencing.

Incorrect Maintenance

If you make a self-diagnosis of mental health, this can lead to medication errors that you do. Treatment is not always about using drugs, but it can also be about the treatment method you are taking.

The treatment that you do may not have any effect on your health condition. However, it could be that the treatment is endangering yourself. For example, from the results of self diagnosis, you assume that you have binge-eating disorder, then you decide to fast, to reduce the portion of overeating.

In fact, you do not know for sure whether you have experienced this condition or not. Therefore, you do have to see a medical expert because your condition will be examined thoroughly, not just from one or two symptoms that you feel. That way, if indeed you have a mental disorder, your condition can be resolved properly and appropriately.

There are steps you can take to find out if you really have a mental disorder, or that it’s just the fear and worry that you have.

• Consult a psychologist or psychiatrist. Of course this becomes the first choice after you make a self diagnosis. Experts will find out more about your mental health.
• Communicate with peers. It doesn’t matter if you “confide” to a friend about the symptoms that you suspect of being a mental disorder. Maybe your friend also felt it and it turns out these symptoms are not a sign of a serious mental disorder.
• Find out more about the symptoms that you find. When doing a self diagnosis of your mental health, try to dig up more information. Don’t just read one article, but look for health journals that can support your diagnosis.