Dangers of Self-Diagnosis?

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Sounds like my mother...my whole life she said I am the way I am because I'm lazy, spoiled, and I do/say the wrong things and it's all my fault that no one likes me. And she actually said the dramatic thing too. But when she finally started admitting that it was probably a problem and NOT my fault, she said that she used to deny it cause she thought she could talk me out of it and she felt it was also her fault that I was that way cause she raised me and therefore, it must be her mistake in bringing me up. After I assured her it wasn't her or anyones fault at all, she seemed better about it, and that helped her stop denying as much and try to understand. I dunno if any of that would help with her, but I know it helped with me so hopefully it will ^_^

But self-diagnosis in my case at least proved to be accurate. When I found out exactly what Asperger's was, I knew it had to be that. Me and my boyfriend both had no doubt, so I basically self diagnosed myself at that point. Then, I talked to my father, a psychologist, and he did a little mini-unofficial-diagnosis (the method they use at his job to diagnose) as he called it, and he said he cannot diagnose me officially because he doesn't have a PhD, only a Masters, but I was right about it all. So my self diagnosis seemed to help me more than hurt me.

On the subject of self diagnosing [of anything] it's potentially dangerous[especially with people who have life threatening diseases/illnesses]
Self diagnosing can cause a psychosomatic effect,and an obsession with the condition,leading the person to believe they actually have it.

To a large extent,I think it is better to concentrate on the actual traits and symptoms of the disease/illness/condition etc rather than giving it a label,as a label means nothing,legally and professionally unless it's diagnosed by a trained specialist,plus it can cause problems if doctors assume their patient is adamant about having a condition,many of them hate self diagnosing and the fact the internet has so much medical information.

This was a very typical attitude used by old fashioned doctors not so long ago for conditions like Autism and ADHD,I think a change of specialist should be in order [to someone with modern thinking at least].

The result of a self-diagnosis can be true or false,
the result of an official diagnosis by a doctor or therapist can be true or false.
So a self-diagnosis is as good as an official diagnosis - for yourself.

You have problems while studying, either AS or ADD. (And you should solve them.) An official diagnosis can grant you relief, maybe. Or you can look for other alternatives to do your studies.
Think, just for coming along with learning and exams you need a diagnosis by a specialist (and some help), otherwise you run the risk to drop out, sooner or later. (Cause its really hard to come through only with blinders.)

All the best.

I can't get to a specialist--no money, and my school doesn't take government funding!

So my choice: Do I act on the idea that I have Asperger's, because it's my best guess; or do I refrain from guessing, and attempt to find individual cures for each of the small things that are weird about me?

My thoughts right now: I match a lot of the symptoms of Asperger's, and all of the key ones. If I have them strongly enough that a professional would diagnose me with Asperger's, then strategies used to help people with Asperger's might help me. Even if I don't have them that strongly--i.e., I'm "on the Asperger's side of normal"--they might still help me, and can't hurt. I can't exactly prescribe myself the wrong medication; and a lot of the things recommended for Aspies can help the NT population too.

In the absence of access to anyone who can tell me for sure, maybe I'm best off making what would amount to a "nursing diagnosis" for someone with a physical illness: Document the symptoms, find ways that a non-physician can relieve them, and put those into practice. And if the symptoms match Asperger's, in my eyes; even if they're caused by something else; wouldn't it be better to use what I know about Asperger's rather than stumbling around in the dark for ANOTHER fifteen years?

I do have treatment for my depression: that's the important part, because Asperger's isn't really a problem so much as a different way of thinking, and the same goes with ADD. I just have to work around my quirks: And if they're the same quirks that people with Asperger's and/or ADD have... then why not act on the hypothesis that I might have something like that? (Incidentally, I'm not too sure about ADD; I just know I'm extremely inattentive. This could easily be a product of depression, but could probably be handled the same way as inattentiveness caused by ADD.)

If I already have treatment for depression, and get extra time on tests and time-management help because of it; might it make sense for me to read about AS and/or ADD on my own, in order to find ways to overcome my shortcomings in those areas? Can I, on my own, learn about and implement ways to help myself study better and interact with the world in a more in-depth manner? In other words: If my problems are treatable without medication (other than for depression), is it possible to actually treat myself?

Last edited by Callista on 16 Feb 2006, 1:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I do love these paradoxical arguments psychologists get themselves into