Self Diagnosis

[Aniihya]

I have time and time again come across people who have a self diagnosis of autism or of another mental condition. I object to self diagnosis. It is okay to have a suspicion that you may have something, but you can't just go around claiming you have something that hasn't been observed and verified by a professional. I don't care if the medical attention is expensive in the US, if it hasn't been verified, you cannot claim it. Plus there are support funds and special centers that make a diagnosis inexpensive. I have no sympathy for most self-dx folks unless it is about females and autism, where generally there is a lack of specialists who can recognize autism in women.

[FyreT1ger]

Nonverbal autism would be obvious, would it not? The markers are the same no matter what gender. Or are you making that statement because women in general are diagnosed with more mental illnesses or more willing to ask for help than men?

[Aniihya]

Usually women with autism have learned coping skills better than men. That is why it tend to be more obvious among men. Plus there are many psychiatrists out there who believe that the incidence of a woman with autism is very unlikely, which is a wrong assumption.

Usually it is not nonverbal people who self-dx, but people who if they were diagnosed with autism would likely end up as AS (Asperger's Syndrome).

[Sara Whitley]

Self-diagnosis is usually not possible to do accurately without a strong base knowledge in the subject matter. This is mainly true with mental conditions. For instance, it can be very difficult to pinpoint a diagnosis on any mental condition if you don't understand what a neurotransmitter is, the relationship between their ratios and your feelings and motivation, and how various lifestyle factors can interact with them. This is why professionals need to have a firmly rooted academic understanding in the subject, and why they should ask certain questions about the patient's lifestyle. With introspection on its own, you're likely to miss various factors, and to make such a decision without the knowledge base, you could be cheating yourself away from a healthy treatment.
I don't feel as though it's up to much debate, personally--diagnosis on something like the brain needs to be handled by someone who studies and works in the field of psychiatry or neuroscience. Nobody is born with intrinsic knowledge on how the brain functions, and most mental conditions can manifest in a spectrum of ways.

[The Ragdoll]

I think it depends on whether the person also tends to whine about stuff and is overly focused on themselves. Otherwise, I'd rather not try to hurt the other person's feelings. They might just want to share their frustrations with someone.

[Aniihya]

I think many young people are too focused on feelings and ego. Some are so focused on emotion that they think it is a good thing to disregard reason.