#self rx

First, a disclaimer/reminder: I’m not a professional! I’m just an ADD/ADHD person (who .... might ... have hyperfixated on learning about ADHD for a while and decided to blog about it). so this is not a professional opinion or advice - just my feelings/thoughts as a layman.

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You gotta self-diagnose - at least to start out - because nobody knows you better than yourself. 

self-diagnosis is NOT ‘making up excuses for your behavior’; it’s an important tool in our arsenal when it comes to mental health in particular, where the core symptoms are happening in your brain.

if something is you can’t seem to control is chewing on your mental space and negatively impacting your life - making it hard to think positive, get out of bed, get work done, remember what you need to do, clean your spaces, etc - you are NOT:

making things up

being a lazy bum

making excuses

deliberately ruining your life

a bad person

you ARE:

noticing something is wrong with your health

in need of assessment and treatment to get better!

and often that starts with self-diagnosis based on symptoms - the same way we go to WebMD every time we get a sore throat to check if it’s strep or something else.

Frankly:

 chances are pretty high that you won’t get much help from anyone if you don’t start out by doing research on your symptoms & determine what you think you need treatment for.

BUT ... after you’ve done the self-diagnosis step, I firmly believe that it’s in one’s best interest to get a professional diagnosis/a professional’s opinion if or when it becomes possible (though obviously, this is not always an option). 

Not only does having a professional’s stamp on your diagnosis often get you access to better/more comprehensive support/care: it also helps ensure you’re not being treated / performing self-care for the wrong thing & unknowingly causing more harm.

sometimes self-diagnosis is the only tool we have available. but it’s not a very accurate tool. 

if your only option is self-diagnosis, keep your mind open to other possible explanations. 

(& don’t take prescription meds for something based on a self-diagnosis alone!! that’s a good way to end up addicted or worse.)

I’m mainly ok with self-diagnosis because it can help make the professional diagnosis step faster/more accurate & provide peace of mind. and if you’re going to self-treat with behavior modification, mindfulness, etc etc, in the absence of professional backup, it can help direct your self-care research too.

some motherfucker on this hell site: self diagnosis is ONLY BAD it harms EVERYONE and helps NO ONE u have to get a PROFESSIONAL DIAGNOSIS or ELSE