9 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use The Internet For Self-Diagnosis
By: Randy Withers
Tags: Diagnosis, Therapy, Mental Health, Psychology, Self Diagnosis

Image by Randy Withers using Canva.com

9 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use The Internet For Self-Diagnosis

Have you ever Googled unusual health symptoms in a self-diagnosis attempt?

If so, you’re not alone.

Through the course of just one year, digitalhealth.net reports that over 100 million health-related Google searches took place in the UK alone, with anxiety and depression being two of the top searches.

While the internet is a great place to get basic information, you need to be careful about your research, especially when it comes to your mental health.

Here’s a video PsychCentral published about self-diagnosis of mental illness:

Here are 9 reasons why you shouldn’t use the internet for mental health self-diagnosis.

1. The Internet Is Full Of Bad Information.

The internet is open to everyone in the world to write about anything they want, more or less; pseudo-experts abound.

When you use forums like r/mental health on Reddit, let’s say, you’re bound to come across people who are offering opinions, not professional advice.

Reddit probably isn’t the first place that trained doctors and therapists are choosing to spend their time.

It’s great to share stories about personal experiences when you need support, but relying on these types of venues for self-diagnosis could really cost you in the long run.

2. Cyberchondria Is A Real Thing.

Internet searches can exacerbate anxiety and even lead to cyberchondria, a condition that is essentially the most extreme version of online symptom checking.

If you already suffer from anxiety, this may push you even further down that spiral when you should instead be doing everything you can to manage your mental health.

3. Diagnosing A Mental Health Problem Is Not About Ticking Off A “Checklist” Of Symptoms.

Say, for instance, you know you are borderline diabetic and have been experiencing some mild symptoms which might warrant a trip to the doctor, but you’re not sure whether it’s necessary.

Taking a look at an online symptom checker on a reputable site like Mayo Clinic may help you make a decision about the type and urgency of treatment required.

But using such websites for a self-diagnosis of mental health problems is bound to leave many factors out of the picture, and even lead to errors in treatment.

While I encourage everyone to take their mental health just as seriously as any physical illness, there’s so much more to our psychology than can be explained with a list of symptoms.

4. Google Didn’t Go To Graduate School.

The internet is a tool and sometimes a great one for research but it’s not a person who spent years in graduate school and logged hundreds of hours of clincial experience.

Nope — it doesn’t have a license, it doesn’t answer to ethics boards or understand context.

It can give you general information, but it won’t be able to have the detailed conversations needed in order to understand what you are going through, let alone how this relates to what your brain and body are doing.

5. A Mental Health Assessment Should Be Both Objective And Comprehensive.

We all struggle with cognitive distortions even during the best of times. During a mental health crisis, our thoughts are bound to be even more skewed.

You need someone who can be objective in their assessment and diagnosis. This is something that doctors and psychotherapists spend years in training for.

A good healthcare professional will do a comprehensive analysis of your situation, taking into account contributing factors and co-occurring disorders — for instance:

Substance abuse

Physical abuse

Childhood trauma

Situational stress

Family and relationship dynamics

Physical illnesses

The last person that can do this well is you. I mean no offense — you’re just too close to the situation to be objective.

The same also holds true for those of you who like to diagnose friends, family members, and ex-lovers. You have no objectivity whatsoever with these people, and your judgment is definitely compromised.

6. Misdiagnoses Happen All The Time — Even From Trained Medical Professionals.

Patients have told me that they received the wrong diagnosis in the past, and have even been prescribed medication for illnesses they don’t have.

Doctors today are busy, and quality health care is not accessible to everyone.

ER doctors, interns, and trauma surgeons, for instance, who treat a person in the ER may not be properly trained to do a proper mental health assessment.

Something that looks like a “mood swing” to one person could just be that, or it could be related to:

Bipolar disorder

Borderline personality disorder

Major depression

Anxiety disorders

PTSD

Hormone fluctuations

Drug dependency

Insomnia

Do you trust your doctor or therapist? Do they respect you and take the time to ask questions?

If not, it’s time to find someone you do trust and who believes you when you give them information about your health instead of turning to self-diagnosis which will be ineffective, at best.

7. Mental Health Disorders Exist On A Spectrum.

The presentation of mental disorders can vary wildly from person to person.

Depression, for instance, can be mild, moderate, severe, or situational. It presents differently in men and women, the old and the young. Some depressed people are sad; others are not.

Some are anxious and stay busy, others will hide in bed for days. It is more than just a “bad mood,” and everyone handles it differently.

Context is also important — for instance, having daily anxiety and panic is not the same as having PTSD from serious trauma.

To add to this, often people diagnosed with a mental illness have one or more co-occurring disorders such as a medical condition or a substance abuse disorder. This stuff gets incredibly complicated.

8. Each Patient Requires A Different Treatment Plan Which May Need To Be Adjusted Or Completely Changed Over Time.

I had a patient once who was worried she had bipolar disorder because she was acting “psycho” (her words).

She had been misdiagnosed by an ER doctor as bipolar, but it turns out it was really the meth she was addicted to that was making her act and feel this way.

In this case, she really needed to prioritize treating her addiction first and foremost, and once that was treated, she was mentally stable and able to function.

She got sober, and the mania and the depression just melted away.

Treatment plans typically involve a combination of medication and therapy, as well as lifestyle adjustments and they vary widely between individuals because there are so many possible causal factors at play.

Self-diagnosis will not be able to take all of these things into account.

9. An Accurate Diagnoses Is Essential For Effective Treatment And Healing

If you are worried about problems related to your mental health or you’re worried about a loved one, you need to consult a licensed professional, preferably in-person.

You’d do the same for your car if it was acting up; surely you have a similar amount of respect for your brain.

Always remember that people are more than the sum of their symptoms, and mental illness is serious and complex.