The dangers of self-diagnosis

You’re probably familiar with using Google to try to self-diagnose a health issue (and jumping to the conclusion that you’re dying, right?!). You may not be aware of the more recent trend of teenagers and young adults diagnosing themselves with mental illnesses — including rare disorders — after learning more about the conditions on TikTok though. Combined with the popular mental health focused language often used loosely by teenagers and young adults, this trend can pose a number of issues.

For example, a client will say, “I’m so O.C.D.,” But if you're organised, have structure, like things a certain way AND you're functioning, YOU DON’T HAVE OBSESSIVE -COMPULSIVE DISORDER – YOU’RE ORGANISED. People who have O.C.D. cannot function because of their compulsions. Some adolescents will choose to believe TikTok over a therapist, and for several sessions they will keep pushing the same agenda. And when clients become fixated on a particular diagnosis, providers are forced to walk the fine line between offering a reality check and finding a way to support the clients.

The format — looping videos that are often less than one minute long — doesn’t leave much room for nuance. Viewers may find little more than a bullet list of symptoms, which makes it incredibly easy to misdiagnose for a number of reasons:

1. the same disorder can express itself in a child, adolescent and adult very differently — in other words, the same list of symptoms does not apply to every age group.

2. It can be hard to be self-aware of certain symptoms, and these really ought to be observed by an objective party. Therapists look at the RANGE of experiences a client is having, when they occur and for how long. Are they functioning in their life? How are they sleeping, eating, relating to others? How is their mood and motivation?

3. Kids can sometimes wear their symptoms as a badge of pride in search of community and to find like-minded people -making it difficult to address the issue.

Please remember that although TikTok has helped reduce stigma and open the door for people to seek professional help, it’s important to recognise the limitations when it comes to mental health diagnosis