The Danger of Self-Diagnosis

Posted on February 27, 2012 by jphilo

During January and February, my days were consumed with research for a new book proposal about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in kids. Consequently, I learned just enough about several mental illnesses to endanger my own state of mind. All this new information sent me into a tizzy of worry and self-diagnosis, resulting in the following list:

1. The great pleasure I find in the order and symmetry of the picture above is a sure sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
2. My penchant for list making could be another sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or it could be a coping mechanism I employ to hide early onset Alzheimer’s.
3. I probably have an eating disorder because one of the marks of an eating disorder is obsessively thinking about food. And I think of food at least three times a day, sometimes more.
4. Kids can be traumatized in many ways, and one of them must have happened to me during childhood so I must have PTSD.
5. Taking out all the garbage, cleaning the bathrooms, doing the laundry, and emptying the dishwasher before going on vacation points to a yet undiscovered, reverse housecleaning phobia which I hope they name “Philophobia” after me.
6. The desire to name a mental illness after myself pretty much proves I have a  narcissistic complex.
7. All this worrying about having a mental illness points to an anxiety disorder, don’t you think?

Believe me, that list is only the tip of the mental illness iceberg. If everything I’ve self-diagnosed was on that list, you’d think I was crazy. But I’m not.

8.  Time to add self-delusion to the list.

 

4 comments on “The Danger of Self-Diagnosis”

1. Dr. G. on March 1, 2012 at 7:58 am said:

   While your post is light-hearted, there’s more than a grain of truth to this. All of the “Ask your doctor about” commercials on TV result in many people approaching harried physicians for a specific treatment for a self-diagnosed condition. With the pressure on docs from hospitals and clinics to see patients quickly and efficiently, many physicians simply give people what they want because they don’t have the time to do a thorough assessment to determine whether they indeed have the condition, or the understanding to explain why a specific treatment might not be in their child’s best interest. The result is inappropriate diagnosis and trivialization of conditions for people who have real disabilities.
2. jphilo on March 1, 2012 at 6:51 pm said:

   Dear Steve,

   You are exactly right, and that is one reason I wrote the post – to remind people in a lighthearted way of the dangers of self-diagnosis. Whether the concern is about physical or mental health, it’s best to take symptoms to the doctor and let her make the diagnosis.

   Jolene
3. Russell Fletcher on March 9, 2012 at 5:52 pm said:

   You are such a Card sometimes Jolene. That was so funny.

   However, after working 25 years at the Portland Oregon Veterans Administration hospital (spending most of that time reading doctors progress notes and then doing medical coding for each note) and then having to quit work and go on Social Security Disability I agree. What some people had could make your skin crawl.
4. jphilo on March 10, 2012 at 7:43 pm said:

   Hi Russell,

   Glad you liked it. No doubt, you know more about medical diagnoses than the general public would ever want to know.

   Good to hear from you, friend,
   Jolene