hey everyone , im starting to look into self diagnosis , and whether or not it is a valid and good thing to do . i would love to hear peoples opinions about it , since i feel like this can be a fairly controversial topic . in my specific case , id like to research and look into self diagnosing with adhd .

please boost so i can gather the opinions of more ppl <3

@fiore i think self-diagnosis is good! you know your own head better than anybody, and in my opinion whatever bias you might have is nothing compared to the lack of insight doctors have about you. don't feel like you're encroaching or invading spaces just because some gatekeeper hasn't given you a certificate yet

@fiore it’s totally valid! (im self-diagnosed myself) this video explains fairly well why it is: https://youtu.be/IBu1R_CtNQM

@mystie oh thx !! ill def watch it ^^

@nbsp oh ! thx aoife ,,

im just very scared bc , aa very close friend of mine whose opinion i value a lot is kind of opposed to it , so i wanted to hear more voices

@fiore I don't see why not

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
So, I dont judge people who, wanting to know something but not finding help, go the self diagnose route.
However allow me to ask, if it was legally possible would you self diagnose yourself for something and take meds for it? Or would you let a professional do it?
Personally I'm not pro self diagnosis, I'm perfectly fine with someone saying "I'm pretty sure I have X" or "I suspect I may have Y".
In my case, I'm pretty damn sure I have ADHD, I have some suspicion of being on the spectrum.
But if self diagnosis was truly reliable we wouldn't need professionals. Even professionals don't do it, so I doubt I should.

@raccoon yes this is exactly my friend’s take on the matter . but i mean , what is the harm in it ? if theres 1 thing my experience as a trans person (and a woman !!) has taught me , is that the most fundamental thing to require , as a human , is bodily autonomy . why should drugs be gatekept behind a medical system made by cis neurotypical people , a system which has proven time and time again to suffer from strong biases , and that most times just acts as another tool that stigmatizes and “other”s people with experiences that differ from the “norm” ?

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
Because taking the wrong meds because "I'm pretty sure I have ADHD" would likely cause more harm than help.
Because people who studied years have tools and knowledge to know how much and what people should take to benefit from it.
Being transgender isn't a disorder/disease, you dont need a "diagnosis" to know you're a woman. You may seek support in your self discovery and that's valid, but ultimately you're not looking for someone to diagnose you with a case of the trans.
Hormones are something that we should have far less problems deciding to take and, when we do, we should have the right to be supported to take them in the best way possible to achieve what we want.

I think being transgender is irrelevant to this topic because we're talking about something that shouldn't require a diagnosis at all and comparing it with something that should.
Did you know? Autism, BPD and ADHD share a bunch of symptoms, even professionals need to study the patient well before giving a diagnose for one of those.

@raccoon yes but , would a self diagnosis give me access to frugs ? (no it wouldnt ) so i mean . thats not rlly a concern here .

however i do think that all drugs should be freely accessible to all . but this is just what i think and isnt rlly that relevant when we talk about someone self diagnosing in our current world

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
I love you fiore, ease know that I'm not trying to be an asshole at all.

@raccoon oh yea i know !!!! i feel the same <3 i explicitly asked fo r this dont worry , its just my way of trying to understand things <33

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
Hard disagree on all drugs be something we can just go and take but yeah, irrelevant to this topic.
Yeah I mean, I know you wouldn't have access to meds, but I just think there's a difference between "self diagnosed BPD" and "professionally diagnosed BPD"
I will always have strong doubts about the self diagnose while I will tend to believe someone who says "I think I have BPD" more than a self diagnosed.
This because you come across people with a list of self diagnosed disorders almost like they're trying to catch all the Pokémon, and I know you ain't the type, but people like that stained it for everyone in my eyes.

@raccoon but i mean . all im saying is , nobody is being able to tell me WHY its bad . like , what are the bad things that can come out of it ?? even assuming i am someone just listing the dsm5 on my bio , what harm am i actually doing ?? nobody seems able to respond to this in a satisfactory way .. i just dont get it

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
I think the bad thing is that you may start self identifying with your self diagnosed thing and read too much into it, eventually going like "oh I probably do X because I'm BPD" and then just accept it.

@raccoon yea but like , still !! i cant see the “bad” in this ? like , its childish ig ? at worst ? but seems pretty harmless to everyone involved . and , if you go around justifying your shitty behaviour with mental health conditions , thats just as bad as if you did it with medically diagnosed ones , so yea this doesnt rlly answer me ,,

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
OK, I apologize but I believe I would explain better in Italian (fiore and raccoon mother tongue).
Io soffro di disturbo di personalità borderline, uno dei sintomi è una tendenza a vedere le cose in estremi.
Quella persona si è comportata bene con me? È una divinità. Quella persona mangia la pizza in un modo che non mi piace? È feccia.
Ora, facciamo finta che io non sappia di avere bpd e un mio amico mi fa notare che tendo a fare così, io posso reagire in modo costruttivo e cercare di migliorare o posso sbattermene i coglioni. Se sono il tipo che se ne sbatte i coglioni e penso di avere bpd a quel punto mi sento anche giustificato nel mio fottermene, perché tanto è il mio bpd e che ci vuoi fare?
Se ho una diagnosi invece il mio terapeuta mi può aiutare a migliorare con terapie varie. E credimi, per esperienza personale la differenza la sento con la terapia.
Certo, una persona che se ne sbatte è negativa in entrambi i casi, ma con una diagnosi e uno specialista che ti segue allora hai meno possibilità di fregartene.
Quel che penso è che una diagnosi fatta in casa può dare più spazio a persone del cazzo per un comportamento negativo, questo non significa che ti reputi una persona del cazzo, anzi.
Il mio punto di vista riguarda la pratica della diagnosi fai da te in generale, non per ogni singolo individuo.
Inoltre qua in Italia ho avuto esperienze positive sia per quanto riguarda me che mia moglie, farsi una diagnosi e poi farsi aiutare non costa uno sproposito quindi penso che una diagnosi fatta da esperti sia superiore sotto ogni punto di vista.

@raccoon però .. non è colpa del processo di autodiagnosi se una persona decide di comportarsi di merda e erroneamente giustificarsi tramite un disturbo per i suoi comportamenti

cioè , sono molto felice che tu ti trovi bene con il sistema , però le persone che si giustificano in quel modo sono persone del cazzo in generale , misdiagnosed or not ..

poi , autodiagnosticarsi non esclude dal cercare aiuto , anzi !! può aiutare a presentarsi con già un certo livello di conoscenza di un disturbo , e può aiutare l’individuo a cercare supporto in posti specifici che si rivolgono nello specifico a individui con una certa diagnosi , invece che affidarsi esclusivamente a personale psichiatrico ..

quindi still , non sto molto vedendo delle cose negative che sono inerentemente colpa dell’autodiagnosi e che potrrebbero cambiare in un qualunque modo con una diagnosi “ufficiale “

@fiore I think self-diagnosis is good, getting a diagnosis from a professional is better I think, due to support received. That being said, this assumes a perfect world where all psychiatrists/psychologists are helpful and healthcare is free. I think self-diagnosis is especially helpful at helping people cope that are not being helped from the current mental health support systems in place or more specifically, the lack thereof in general.

@fiore what I’ll say is that both times I tried to get an institutionalized diagnosis I was met with the most uninformed possible “professional” so self-diagnosis is the only accessible diagnosis as far as I’m concerned. but ymmv based on country etc.

@liliththehellhound thanxx yea this is wher i am currently as well .. its just , there s so much stuff to do for getting a adhd diagnosis at this age , it just feels so overwhelming and i honestly dont see any way in which it would help me unless i wanted to start taking medication (which i kinda dont want ) , so ..

@lewdum thanxx for sharing <3 and for boosting

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
Il problema, per come la vedo io, è che si tratta di una cosa che non dovrebbe esistere per evitare che persone del cazzo ne facciano uso, ma visto che il vaso di pandora ormai è aperto ci si può fare poco.
Io continuo a pensare che sia una cosa pericolosissima in generale, senza andare a prendere ogni singolo individuo.
Mi rendo conto che remo contro corrente ma penso che se le persone in generale smettessero di vederla come una opzione valida allora anche le persone che ne fanno uso negativo magari non lo fanno più, non so se mi spiego.
Oh poi magari sono coglione io eh però la vedo così.
Comunque ho condiviso il mio punto di vista e non è che voglio puntarti una pistola contro se non lo condividi. (Dov'è che abiti..? ​​)
Comunque, spero che tu non abbia niente e che non ci sia bisogno di diagnosi di nessun tipo :)

@raccoon hahaha va bene grazie mille <3 io invece vengo a spararti right fuarrrking now !! haha grazie per avere condiviso

@raccoon @fiore@brain.worm.pink
mamma miaa I cooka da meatball ​​

@dushman @raccoon bibidibabidibibidibubidi

@dushman @fiore@brain.worm.pink
Ma vai a cagare sulle ortiche.

@fiore

look into self diagnosing with adhd
Best thing you can do is a find a good psychiatrist who won’t dismiss your concerns tbh. I found one and it has helped a lot with my myriad of mental disorders lol.

@dushman yea but , thats expensive and takes quite a bit of effort .. i tried already haha

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
that and a therapist

@dushman yea next thing i do is prolly gonna talk abt this to my therapist

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
Right do you live in the US? I am seeing one privately but you can for free also, not expensive here even privately.

@dushman yea but ,the options run scarcer if i go to a free one

im in italy

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
Decided to go for this because he is genuinely really good

@fiore@brain.worm.pink
Is it that expensive to see one privately in Italy?

@dushman yea private healthcare is expensive

i mean , it might not be , but i sure as hell cant afford it

@dushman @fiore@brain.worm.pink
You're lucky bro, if I was your psychiatrist I would have kicked you out cause my paycheck ain't good enough.

@raccoon @fiore
Hey I’m not that messed up

@dushman @fiore@brain.worm.pink
Dude they could write a whole book just with me and you.

@raccoon @fiore@brain.worm.pink
hmmm maybe

@raccoon @dushman @fiore imagine the poor receptionist "is that a proprietary patient portal software? Yknow ive never personally had a problem remembering medical information

@vriska @raccoon @dushman
> the receptionist blushes , instantly falling in love

@vriska@lizards.live @raccoon@hollow.raccoon.quest @fiore@brain.worm.pink
The receptionist when I start compiling Gentoo on the office PC

@vriska@lizards.live @raccoon@hollow.raccoon.quest @fiore@brain.worm.pink
sounds just like me fo real

@fiore@brain.worm.pink @vriska@lizards.live @raccoon@hollow.raccoon.quest
real

@DeiWildcat @fiore You just gotta learn to forgive yourself for things like that, brain don't work like NTs do

@fiore@brain.worm.pink of course nothing beats a diagnosis made by a professionnal but I reckon it does depend what's your goals with the diagnosis, how accessible healthcare is in your area, or you just want to put a name on your conditions

<< In the end, I think healthcare should be free for anyone, and people’s concerns should be taken seriously

Sorry for several different post. I had many words

@DeiWildcat@packmates.org
I must confess, I struggle reading long posts, I lose track often and have to re-read the same bits many times.
However I could not agree more with you when you say that health care should be free for anyone and people's concern should be taken seriously. Amen.

@DeiWildcat @liliththehellhound @fiore I rawdogged adhd without seeking pro help up to a few years ago. Had suspected/assumed I had it for decades, but couldn't let go of the notion that I was just "lazy, unfocused, not trying hard enough, needing to relax and not stress so much about little things, etc."

That just turned it into ADHD + depression from years of undo self loathing, trying to function without any help from people who know their shit :/ so I don't recommend *only* self-diagnosing

@Badgeryiff @liliththehellhound @fiore Honestly, I think everyone should have a therapist that they see regularly. It’s shown to be pretty healthy for you. You can always ask them what their approach is first and let them know what you’re expecting out of them.

I want find one again, but other things need have to come first.

But yeah, I get the self loathing a lot. Hopefully I can get things sorted soon

@DeiWildcat @Badgeryiff @liliththehellhound thx yall , i do have a therapist , so ill probably talk abt this to her . very insightful thread thx for sharing your experiences <3