I wasn't really referring to the article in particular; I was more just ranting about something that I was thinking about before that the article reminded me of.
I think the problem runs a bit deeper than people thinking they're experts when they're not, though. I think when most people try to diagnose themselves, they look online for symptoms and such. If they already have some conviction in their diagnosis, they might think that they should also have other symptoms when they don't, or start noticing borderline things that they otherwise would easily ignore. Then, when they finally go to the doctor, their list of self-reported symptoms is no longer a list of what they independently noticed but a laundry list of whatever they read on webmd.
I'd be interested in hearing if you think this is actually the case, since you definitely have more experience and knowledge in it than I do. I'm basing most of this off of the personal experience of a few of my friends and the modicum of knowledge I have from a few clinical psychology classes I took in college.
>"Then, when they finally go to the doctor, their list of self-reported symptoms is no longer a list of what they independently noticed but a laundry list of whatever they read on webmd."
Sure, it happens all the time, in all areas of medicine. Not just psychiatry. The key here is that when someone says "I'm depressed," or "I have 5 of 9 criteria of a Major Depressive Episode," or "I have gout," that does not mean that the diagnostic evaluation is over. It's important to get clear examples of what people have noticed. Despite their conclusion, is this better explained by cancer, or anxiety, or a thyroid problem, or substance abuse? Like migraine, psychiatric illness is evaluated clinically rather than by imaging or lab tests, but there can be important overlaps that sometimes make these tests helpful to rule out other causes.
A patient's own conclusion is an important piece of the puzzle, but it's still just one piece.
I think the problem runs a bit deeper than people thinking they're experts when they're not, though. I think when most people try to diagnose themselves, they look online for symptoms and such. If they already have some conviction in their diagnosis, they might think that they should also have other symptoms when they don't, or start noticing borderline things that they otherwise would easily ignore. Then, when they finally go to the doctor, their list of self-reported symptoms is no longer a list of what they independently noticed but a laundry list of whatever they read on webmd.
I'd be interested in hearing if you think this is actually the case, since you definitely have more experience and knowledge in it than I do. I'm basing most of this off of the personal experience of a few of my friends and the modicum of knowledge I have from a few clinical psychology classes I took in college.