this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
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"Diagnosing" yourself is a step along the way to finding behavioural applications that help you. I would never have even begun to start pursuing half the things that have helped me if I didn't see a bunch of people sharing their experience as autistic and go "oh shit, might I be autistic?".
What you are referring to as "telling people to diagnose themselves" is actually just encouraging people to look inward and outward, find common themes between themselves and others, and use those findings to inform what they can do to help themselves and those around them.
If, in fact, you don't take any issue with that and its instead just the word "diagnosis" that you take issue with, then I have no right to stop you from being that pedantic but there are better hills to die on.
That's actually what I am saying you do. Why would you call that "diagnosis"? Why not call it "pizza-stomping"? Why not call it winning a nobel prize? Words mean something. The fact that so many people cannot understand why this is frustrating is exactly why it is frustrating. I actually like the nobel prize comparison. That's not too far off from what's going on here lol.
What it leads to is communities of people who increasingly have little relation to people who are actually diagnosed with the condition. "hey i like pizza do i have adhd" "yeah man totally! i have adhd and i love pizza" "yeah it's totally a major symptom" and then when someone comes along saying "uhh that's not actually diagnostic of adhd" they get told to fuck off
these words mean something. these conditions mean something. the treatments mean something. we have boards and licenses and ethics surrounding all of this. if you want to go wild wild west at it, im sure you'll have a lot of fun and make great friends along the way, but all of this contributes to the undermining of our society's understanding of mental health
So to be clear you take issue with the text in the quoted paragraph? Or is the act of doing what's in the quoted paragraph cool but calling it diagnosis isn't?
If the former, what do you propose people should do who don't have the means to pursue a formal diagnosis, or are on a waiting list and suffering in the interim?
A couple things are wrong with the image. To be clear, the image doesn't actually describe an act of doing anything. The image describes a barrier to diagnosis. It's a real problem and one worth discussing - but I'm not sure if the conclusion should be "lol just do it yourself." The image also says you're just saying someone to "say what you've already known" which is a blatant attempt to flatter the reader's intellect and skips over the most important part of diagnosis, the DDX. Which leads to the biggest issue, the implied conclusion, represented in this post's title: "Self-diagnosis is valid".
As for what to do: I'm just saying that you can make behavioral changes without having to name your behavioral patterns. Or name them whatever you want, call it Fred. For ADHD behavioral interventions alone wont be as effective as it would if combined with medication, but if there's no other option then by all means. See what others have done to manage ADHD and try it out for yourselves. That doesn't necessarily mean you have ADHD - but the name doesn't matter! If you're forgetting appointments, keeping an appointment book is just a generally good practice. Keeping a schedule, adjusting how your space is organized to cue your attention instead of relying on executive function, and utilizing post-it notes to stay on track - these are all good practices! And so on. You don't need a diagnosis to do this. Why must we insist on "self-diagnosing"?
I just want people to shift from this horoscope-esque idea of "diagnosis" and focus more on "treatment". I think a lot of the emphasis on the name and not the action comes down to a desire to fit in and finding liberation in a lack of agency. Like if we look at a false dichotomy: Would you rather be officially labeled ADHD and not have to work on yourself at all, or would you not get the label but be in charge of making the changes you want in your life? Both sound pretty scary, but the latter sounds far more difficult.
Thanks for the thoughtful response!
I don't think you understood my reply (or you chose to ignore my question) but I got the answer regardless. I don't agree with you but the way you've approached the conversation here is much less callous than it was initially so I'm happy to accept that we disagree and move on. Have a good one.
Oh fuck off
This is a pretty poor reply from a moderator. The user you're replying to is correct. Not only that, it is staggering that someone who mods a sub of this type is advocating for self diagnosis. Sharing coping mechanisms is one thing but advocating what amounts to circumventing mental health help is frankly irresponsible. I don’t see how anyone could find it even rational to advocate to the potentially mental ill to diagnose themselves.
Nobody said to circumvent official diagnosis. Stop putting words in my mouth.
It is a logical conclusion to advocating for self diagnosis mate. Given your position within this comm you should seriously consider talking to medical professionals about your view and what they think of it.
Don't put mods on a pedestal.
Actually a fair reply but ~~I think~~ my reply is as well given their potential reach. Anyway consider it either way, never hurts to inform ourselves more.
...what? I agree with you?
I even shared an anecdote about my own self diagnosis? I'm genuinely baffled that you just lash out at someone who agrees with you.
Sorry I replied to the wrong post
they probably meant me