Is Self-Diagnosis Valid?

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If you think you have a specific condition affecting your emotional, medical or mental state, does your subjective opinion alone make yours a valid diagnosis? Does having an "official" diagnosis of a condition by a medical professional validate your own opinion of an unrelated condition - for example, your doctor says you have psoriasis, and you are certain that you also have lupus; does this mean that your own self-diagnosis of lupus is as valid as your doctor's diagnosis of psoriasis?

If you're a hypochondriac, then no, you probably shouldn't self-diagnose.
(If you think you're a hypochondriac, then you probably are one. (self-fulfilling prophecy :P))

I've never felt like there was something wrong with my brain, just that everyone else was weird. Then I read about AS and realized that a lot of the things I do could be considered as "abnormal". For example, I never realized that thinking about objects as having feelings and apologizing/thanking them was abnormal, it was just part of everyday life. But after I read about it, I realized that most people would consider that abnormal or even psychotic.

So, if you meet the diagnostic criteria for something, then you could probably self-diagnose. If you don't know if you do, then you should see a professional.

I chose "Maybe Not - I may know that something is wrong, but only a doctor can tell me what it is."

Of course, I know what a headache or tummyache feels like, but only a doctor can tell me why my head or tummy is hurting. Is it stress? Is it allergy? Is it a viral or bacterial infection? Is it cancer?

Only a doctor can tell me for sure.

I chose "Other". It depends on the individual, the process they use for diagnosis, the doctor - and even what is wrong with the individual. (For example, no one is ever likely to successfully diagnose their own failing mental ability, because that very failing ability would make it impossible.)

Catch-22!



So, if you think only think that you have a mental disorder, then you probably don't; but if you believe that you are perfectly sane, then you probably aren't, because your debilitated mental state would prevent you from recognizing it.

My dad is a physician's assistant. He's basically a doctor, but with only 6 years of school instead of 8. And, while he knows his stuff, he isn't always right.

I think self-diagnosis can be a really useful tool, and staying informed is really important. For example, when I was in high school I studied abroad for a semester, and during one of our field trips I tripped and injured my ankle. My ankles have always been weak, so I recognized it immediately as either a strain or a sprain and did my best to keep my weight off it until the end of the trip. By the end of the afternoon, after doing a bit of poking at it (as I tend to do with my injuries), I determined that it was not merely strained, but sprained.

When we returned from the trip, I went to the nurse's office to complain. However, I had been forewarned that the nurse did not do much as far as diagnosis, and had a habit of prescribing pills for absolutely anything. Obviously, an injured ankle will not benefit from pills alone. So when I went into her office, I flat out told her, "I sprained my ankle. I need something to wrap it with." She gave me an ace bandage and had me wrap it myself, and then prescribed powerful painkillers, even though I told her (truthfully) that it didn't hurt anymore once it had been wrapped up. She still made me return for a follow-up visit on the day that the doctor was coming in (to see someone who had bronchitis that the nurse had misdiagnosed as a cold, then pneumonia). The doctor told me that my ankle was sprained and that I should wrap it up. I left her office feeling rather satisfied that day.

o_o I didn't know that was weird. And it doesn't help that around the time I stopped acting like inanimate objects had feelings, I started getting into "American Otaku"/Japanese culture and I learned that it was culturally acceptable in Japan to believe that kami (demigods, basically) live in everything from rocks to waterfalls to skyscrapers. Of course that doesn't mean most people in Japan believe that, but that didn't change the fact that anime addresses it....

I chose not likely because the average person will not know all the possible options. They will look into one or two things, agree that they match a certain diagnosis based on the limited information that they have read, and take that as valid. It really isn't. That doesn't mean they are always going to be wrong, just that they do not have the qualifications and often the knowledge to back it up (ie. a person may look like they have condition A, but really condition B is a much better fit; they just don't know about it).

I guess I dont know what you mean by valid. A self diagnosis for many disorders such as an ASD does not have the reliability a professionl diagnosis has. That does not mean the diagnosis is incorrect. It simply means that it's not done by a professional with training and has a high chance for error. You did not get the diagnosis you wanted. You feel nobody is paying attn to you. What.. you took an online test? What... you looked at the DSM IV and fit the criteria? Umm..sorry. It can be super helpful to the individual though cause it gives them some feeling of understanding and closure even. Then they will often treat themselves. And start feeling better because they are doing something to help themselves.

Merriam-Webster says:

Valid (adj):
1. having legal efficacy or force; especially : executed with the proper legal authority and formalities <a valid contract>
2a. well-grounded or justifiable : being at once relevant and meaningful <a valid theory>
2b. logically correct <a valid argument> <valid inference>
3. appropriate to the end in view : effective <every craft has its own valid methods>
4. of a taxon : conforming to accepted principles of sound biological classification

So, in the common vernacular, "valid" means "accurate". If I say, "I have a headache" (which I do), it is a valid statement. If I say "My headache is caused by the invisible giant two-headed telepathic Bigfoot in my driveway", it would be invalid on many levels, not the least of which is that the very existence of "Bigfoot" has never been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ok then.. Valid being that.. I'd say a self-diagnosis is NOT valid on it's own to a professional. However, it can be helpful to a professional because it gives them a really good place to start. They can use their tools and knowledge to determine the professional validity.

Self-diagnosis to the individual or to those of like mind, it could be very valid to them. It meets their needs and they can choose how they want to proceed from there. Although, like Bigfoot, it has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Oftentimes even in the minds of those that self-diagnose. There's a little bit in their mind thinking that their diagnosis isn't quite as good as a professional telling them.

Nay, it's all just opinions. Some hold more subjective weight for certain reasons.

I'm not perfect. Doctors aren't perfect. Science isn't perfect. There is no absolute certainty, only approximate certainty.

A good self diagnosis is more valid than a bad doctor diagnosis.

+1

I think people who self-dX are often right on the money, but I also think you shouldn't really go around telling everyone I have Asperger's if you don't have an official medical diagnosis. In my opinion it's better to say I have problems with this and that or I have a kid with AS... and I'm a lot like them.

Before getting diagnosed I would mainly tell people I had trouble with crowds or small talk or would try and describe my auditory problems. I would occasionally say I had a brother with autism and suspected I had AS... but this was usually in conversations where I was sorting out my head and people's opinions about whether to get an official diagnosis and I'm talking with like 2 or 3 people including a couple who had kids on the spectrum.

While doctors are human and therefore fallible, they also have a lot more training behind them so I'd be inclined to take their opinion over mine. Unless they are drastically wrong [like the doctor who thought what turned out to be a perforated appendix was a kidney infection but fortunately I insisted on heading to the hospital], then I wouldn't take a self-dx seriously.

I'm not too sure. On one hand you know yourself better than anyone else, but on the other hand most disorders are normal traits taken to extremes so simply having traits isn't enough, but it's a matter of having them to an extreme dysfunctional extent.