I hate the self diagnosis tiktok trend

[depthss]

I See nothing wrong with speculating that you may have a disorder, but to actually full on self diagnose yourself is wrong. I'm diagnosed with autism and I hate seeing how many people self diagnose.
I've seen a lot of people on tiktok say "self diagnosis is valid! It doesn't hurt anyone" but that's not true. Many actual autistic people ( or adhd, bpd, whatever ) are not taken seriously because of this. It's so bad in fact, that I've seen many people who are autistic leave comments saying they don't like it, and people who probably agree with their points will reply to them accusing them of faking. I saw someone say they don't like when people fake or self diagnose, and someone literally replied to them with something like "you're not autistic, I work with an autistic person and he can't even speak, you'd hang your head in shame if you knew what it was really like." And it's so annoying, because people wouldn't reply shit like that if it wasn't for these tiktokers

I don't think everyone who does this is actively faking a disorder, I think many of them are just led to believe they have it because of the amount of videos that are like " if you do these 5 things you might have autism " and everything in the video is a super vague thing that many non autistic people do. Plus if that's literally your entire FYP, of course you're gonna start to believe it eventually. The app is very harmful and it's convincing a bunch of people that they have a bunch of different illnesses. I deleted tiktok a long time ago, but I'm 18, so I spent a couple of my teen years on there, and it's genuinely insane how much of a trend this stuff is. people are really making autism and mental illness into something "quirky", the same people who used to bully us are now faking this shit

Before I used to not care about being autistic, but all of these self diagnosed people have made me scared that nobody Will believe me when I say I'm diagnosed, which I have seen many times, so I think that's a reasonable fear to have. It's also just made me resent a lot of my symptoms, I used to not really care before this stuff started blowing up, but now I'm just ashamed. I hate it so much

 

[HouseofMortok]

Let us hope, atleast I do, another life ending trend hits those insensitive freaks.

 

[pole]

incredibly infuriating to see people normalize this trend of pathologizing human behaviour over the past few years. it's due to the rise of wellness culture in the west, which is also why therapy is so pervasive nowadays.

whether it's self-diagnosing or blindlessly labeling anyone a narcissist, sociopath, psychopath after reading an article online or watching a YouTube video about psychology and crime.

it's invalidating and it doesn't do justice to those genuinly struggling with these conditions.

it's quiet frankly disgusting to say the least.

 

[Abyssal]

Yesterday I saw a tiktok of a girl titled "Was making part 2 when I had an adhd attack" where she proceeded to look at the ceiling and do jazz hands. What. (Notice the lack of question mark? I means I don't want to know what!)

That said, I sometimes wonder if I glorified suicide at a young age. I have been suicidal since before I fully understood death, and I recall maybe doing it for attention but I'm unsure. Now the pain is real and i wonder if I screwed my brain up.

Edited in part 2 (without the "adhd attack"): though about it a bit more. When I was younger I wasn't doing well and got bullied. In hindsight I didn't understand but I know I was still hurt by it. My early clinging to suicide probably stems from being a cry for help/a way of trying to convince others to be nicer to me.

 

[Dliena]

I hate tiktok and I STILL remember the whole tide pod eating challenge incident. Just cancerous cringe bs misinfo all round. Sorry OP.

 

[AllCatsAreGrey]

I See nothing wrong with speculating that you may have a disorder, but to actually full on self diagnose yourself is wrong. I'm diagnosed with autism and I hate seeing how many people self diagnose.
I've seen a lot of people on tiktok say "self diagnosis is valid! It doesn't hurt anyone" but that's not true. Many actual autistic people ( or adhd, bpd, whatever ) are not taken seriously because of this. It's so bad in fact, that I've seen many people who are autistic leave comments saying they don't like it, and people who probably agree with their points will reply to them accusing them of faking. I saw someone say they don't like when people fake or self diagnose, and someone literally replied to them with something like "you're not autistic, I work with an autistic person and he can't even speak, you'd hang your head in shame if you knew what it was really like." And it's so annoying, because people wouldn't reply shit like that if it wasn't for these tiktokers

I don't think everyone who does this is actively faking a disorder, I think many of them are just led to believe they have it because of the amount of videos that are like " if you do these 5 things you might have autism " and everything in the video is a super vague thing that many non autistic people do. Plus if that's literally your entire FYP, of course you're gonna start to believe it eventually. The app is very harmful and it's convincing a bunch of people that they have a bunch of different illnesses. I deleted tiktok a long time ago, but I'm 18, so I spent a couple of my teen years on there, and it's genuinely insane how much of a trend this stuff is. people are really making autism and mental illness into something "quirky", the same people who used to bully us are now faking this shit

Before I used to not care about being autistic, but all of these self diagnosed people have made me scared that nobody Will believe me when I say I'm diagnosed, which I have seen many times, so I think that's a reasonable fear to have. It's also just made me resent a lot of my symptoms, I used to not really care before this stuff started blowing up, but now I'm just ashamed. I hate it so much

While I appreciate your sentiment, I don't feel that self diagnosis is just a tiktok trend. I will agree that the format of the platform oversimplifies assessment and perhaps makes it trendy in ways. That said, most current autistic educators and advocates (many who have been formally diagnosed) support self-diagnosis. A prominent example is Dr. Devon Price, who wrote "Unmasking Autism".

See also this study and this article.

The system for formal diagnosis is very difficult to access in many places. In my country a formal assessment can be over 1500. It is not covered by insurance. And even then, the systems of assessment often ignore many marginalized groups as they may not present as "typical" autistic.

I personally am self-diagnosed, but that came after over a year of research and consultation with a doctor that provides assessments - who btw supported self-diagnosis. Lumping all self-diagnosis together with tiktok trends is honestly a little frustrating and feels demeaning.

 

[Life_and_Death]

even as someone that "self diagnosis" , i agree with you.
if i say i have something im just summing up the symptoms and am completely open to "no, its sounds more like..."

its not like the docs are 100% accurate either. i mean how often are there misdiagnoses.
or in my case, they handed me a print out of webmd and asked if that sounds right (my bpd). and wasnt even told about anything else, i glanced it at my last doc appointment (family doc, not the psych that "assessed" me). id love to know how im suppose to help myself if you dont tell me what i need help with.

what are you suppose to do if even the people that pay so much money for a piece of paper cant even get it right.

i think the biggest problem with self diagnosis is that people will have "a cold" while complaining they have "a flu". theres a lot of perfectly normal human reactions being giving a diagnosis (again, even by doctors)

 

[IWishToDie]

I See nothing wrong with speculating that you may have a disorder, but to actually full on self diagnose yourself is wrong. I'm diagnosed with autism and I hate seeing how many people self diagnose.
I've seen a lot of people on tiktok say "self diagnosis is valid! It doesn't hurt anyone" but that's not true. Many actual autistic people ( or adhd, bpd, whatever ) are not taken seriously because of this. It's so bad in fact, that I've seen many people who are autistic leave comments saying they don't like it, and people who probably agree with their points will reply to them accusing them of faking. I saw someone say they don't like when people fake or self diagnose, and someone literally replied to them with something like "you're not autistic, I work with an autistic person and he can't even speak, you'd hang your head in shame if you knew what it was really like." And it's so annoying, because people wouldn't reply shit like that if it wasn't for these tiktokers

I don't think everyone who does this is actively faking a disorder, I think many of them are just led to believe they have it because of the amount of videos that are like " if you do these 5 things you might have autism " and everything in the video is a super vague thing that many non autistic people do. Plus if that's literally your entire FYP, of course you're gonna start to believe it eventually. The app is very harmful and it's convincing a bunch of people that they have a bunch of different illnesses. I deleted tiktok a long time ago, but I'm 18, so I spent a couple of my teen years on there, and it's genuinely insane how much of a trend this stuff is. people are really making autism and mental illness into something "quirky", the same people who used to bully us are now faking this shit

Before I used to not care about being autistic, but all of these self diagnosed people have made me scared that nobody Will believe me when I say I'm diagnosed, which I have seen many times, so I think that's a reasonable fear to have. It's also just made me resent a lot of my symptoms, I used to not really care before this stuff started blowing up, but now I'm just ashamed. I hate it so much

Tiktok is mind poison. Best to quit using it.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I never used TikTok and will never do. I'm too old for such crap. But it's probably one of the social medias that makes (very) young people suicidal. (Just my opinion).

 

[Zebulon]

As a psychology student (currently in my last master year), the self diagnosis tilts me so hard. Its unbelievable. In my day it was tumblr with all self diagnosis stuff. People say they have OCD, just because they like things tidy or organized, have never seen patiens litterally ran up and down the stairs the whole day. These people suffer so much and the self diagnosis is just a spit in their face.

As someone who suffers from social phobia and mild ADHD the problem that arisis is that people just dont take you seriously anymore.

For example: When I cant come to a social event, because of my social phobia I communicate that usually. But people always think its just that I dont want to go, or they have social phobia from time to time and it helps if they go out etc. When I force myself to go, my hands are shaky I dont talk much and when I talk its nonsense. The same poeple then act surprised, because in their mind they have it aswell, but it goes away when there at the party. So I (Zebu) must not like them, not like the party etc.
The whole mental illness gets trivialized, which just makes it harder for people who suffer under them.

You should just diagnose someone in the right set and setting. There is no validation for other methods. A good therapist for example would never say: yeah the dude at the party, totally a narcisst. Trust me bro.
There is simply to little information, to make such an important statement. Same with people who try to diagnose friends or a S/O. There is a reason why no therapist works with patiens that he knows privatly.


Oh and dont get me started on the whole intro- and extravert stuff or the garbage useless 16personalits (INTJ,...) test.

Rant over

 

[Pg.964]

I do think people are medicalizing everything too much and there is a certain harm in that, it does get annoying. On the other hand I recognize that most of the people doing this are kids/teens/young adults, who may not have access to a psychiatrist but also people at those ages feel an overwhelming need for an identity. Tiktok turns everything into a subgenre or category and I guess it helps young people cope by in a weird way romanticizing it. I used to do the same thing when I was younger. I'm not trying to defend that necessarily but I think it's worth considering.

 

[Peerless_Cucumber]

I can see both sides. I thought I had autism but my mother was convinced I didn't. I got diagnosed a year later.

No one believed I was depressed until I ended up in the psychiatry after a failed attempt and only then I was diagnosed with depression.

My therapist didn't believe I had an eating disorder because I didn't want to lose weight to look attractive. Such a wierd reason and it only ended up triggering me in a really bad way.

Then again you have people on TikTok who tell others what lies to tell their doctors so they can get on cross sex hormones and they might possibly end up regretting it later down the line. Which wouldn't have happened if those people on TikTok wouldn't have told them to fake xyz criteria.

This self diagnosis trend makes me concerned. Yet at the same time I recognize that there are also bad therapists out there who are a part of the problem too. However I still don't understand why one would self diagnose instead of searching for help if they feel like they have a problem and the monetary means to do so.

 

[breezeboy]

Yesterday I saw a tiktok of a girl titled "Was making part 2 when I had an adhd attack" where she proceeded to look at the ceiling and do jazz hands. What. (Notice the lack of question mark? I means I don't want to know what!)

Lol "adhd attack" gave me a good chuckle. I was diagnosed adhd when I was 11.

 

[ladidabi]

People feel the need to be unique by pretending to have a literal disability. This is nothing new, but the size of the platform makes it worse, because it hits a larger demographic, mainly children, teens and immature adults who seek sympathy and attention. One can have thoughts of a condition they believe they may have, that's not unusual. One can be depressed. It does not mean they have depression.

 

[kane9191kosugi]

I hate TikTok.

Besides, it's run by a Chinese company which is banned domestically lol. There are plenty of researches where they censorship anything that is negative towards CCP's agenda (yes, I know other platforms also does "manipulate" information to their liking but not to the TikTok's extent lol).

And even besides all that crap, I don't get the obsession with this app. I guess people are getting dumber and dumber lol.