The perils of self-diagnosis. Why mental health is not a DIY project.

‘So I searched my symptoms online and I am pretty sure I have <insert mental health disorder>.’

We've all been there. You feel a little off—maybe you're extra tired, your mind's racing, or your mood's been swinging like a pendulum. You’re scrolling through your phone to distract yourself and you see a post ‘7 signs you have ADHD’. A few clicks later, you're knee-deep in articles, Reddit threads, and TikToks about anxiety, depression, ADHD, or some other disorder you've never even thought of before. Suddenly, you're convinced you’ve got it all.

As a therapist, I see this all too often. A client will come in so focused on a self-diagnosis they made based on dubious content on the internet that they may not even notice the areas that actually need work!

Your Symptoms Are Probably More Common Than You Think

I remember having a headache recently that just wouldn’t go away. I decided to check online for some home remedies and pretty soon the internet diagnosed me with an illness I could not even pronounce. A seemingly normal reaction to a long day of work, coupled with dehydration turned into a fatal condition. Same goes for mental health. Feeling sad after a bad day or distracted during a boring Zoom meeting? Seems natural, doesn't it? Stress, tiredness, and life’s general chaos can all make you feel “off” sometimes. But a few symptoms don’t automatically mean you have a mental health condition.

Mental health professionals look at a lot more than just a bad week or a single sleepless night when diagnosing someone. So, even though your quick online search might tell you otherwise, don’t assume the worst.

Not All Symptoms Are Created Equal

Ever notice how so many mental health conditions sound alike? Anxiety, depression, and ADHD all share symptoms like trouble focusing, feeling restless, or being fatigued. Does this mean one has all of these problems? Although it is true that these conditions can coexist - what we call comorbidity, simply the occurence of 1 or 2 symptoms is not enough evidence for a diagnosis. The thing is, only a trained therapist or psychologist can figure out which condition (if any) you might be dealing with. They’ve got the skills to dig deep and sort through all the messy, overlapping signs that might be difficult to make sense of.

Your Social Media Feed Is Not a Diagnostic Tool

To be honest, it's great that more people are talking about mental health—the mental health wave on TikTok and Instagram certainly has more people (than ever before) thinking about mental health and trying to break the stigma around it. At the same time, it is important to remember that influencers and creators are not all therapists (unless they’re actually trained and certified, of course).

Seeing someone list symptoms that sound eerily familiar might make you think, ‘Wait, that’s me!’ Use their story for what it is, a relatable anecdote, a validating experience and treat it as a step towards understanding mental health, not as a diagnosis. Although it’s true that there is a list of symptoms that helps professionals diagnose, the lived experience and the way these symptoms manifest themselves in each individual can vary greatly. Mental health professionals go through years of training for a reason. There’s a lot more to diagnosis than checking off a list of symptoms.

It’s Easy to Get Stuck in a Spiral

Here’s the thing: the more you read about a particular disorder, the more you might convince yourself you have it. It’s kind of like buying a red car and suddenly noticing red cars everywhere. Your brain starts connecting the dots, even if they don’t really belong together.

This is called confirmation bias. Once you start believing you might have a certain condition, your brain focuses on all the information that supports that belief. And guess what? Social media algorithms love feeding you more of that. So, the more you engage with mental health content, the more of it you’ll see—whether it’s accurate or not.

You Might Miss the Bigger Picture

Maybe you're dealing with anxiety, but that anxiety could be a symptom of something deeper, like trauma, a medical issue, or another mental health condition. Or maybe it's situational—a reaction to stress or big changes in your life.

Self-diagnosis is like looking at one chapter of a book and thinking you understand the whole story. A therapist can help you see the full picture. They’ll consider all the factors—your history, lifestyle, relationships, and more—to figure out what’s really going on and how best to help.

So, What Should You Do Instead?

If you’ve been feeling off for a while and think something more serious might be going on, reach out to a certified mental health professional. They’re trained to sort through the noise and will give you a much clearer picture than any online quiz or social media post.

In the meantime, it’s great to educate yourself about mental health—just make sure you’re getting your info from reputable sources; engage with mental health content created by licensed professionals; look for valid sources, citations, and references.