Self diagnosis: self-diagnose which is a danger to health

Have you ever felt unwell and complained to friends around you? Your friend who has had the same symptoms will immediately tell you how to deal with complaints that he has had success with. You immediately believe and take his advice. Be careful, this belongs to the phenomenon self diagnosis.

Friends, family, and past experiences of illness are often used as references to "self-medicate". Similar symptoms make us feel know how to treat it. Not to mention when reading and reading health articles that are not credible. Not healing, diagnosing yourself can actually worsen your health.

What is that self diagnosis ?

Self diagnosis is an attempt to self-diagnose based on the information you get independently, for example from friends or family, and even your past experiences with illness.

In fact, the diagnosis should only be made by a medical professional. The reason is, the process to the right diagnosis is very difficult.

When you are consulted, your doctor will make a diagnosis. The diagnosis is determined based on symptoms, complaints, medical history, and other factors that you are experiencing.

Two doctors can even give different diagnoses to the same patient.

When diagnosing yourself, you infer a physical or psychological health problem with the information you have.

In fact, medical professionals alone need to explore the ins and outs of a health problem before making your diagnosis.

You may even need to undergo a follow-up examination because the suspicion of a disease cannot be concluded.

Apart from the surrounding environment, technological advances also contribute to this phenomenon. For example, after hearing feedback from a friend, you search the internet for it. Unfortunately, the source that is used as a reference is not the credible source that has been agreed by the doctor.

In fact, a 2013 study even found that among people seeking information regarding their health conditions, only half actually consulted a doctor.

In fact, you still have to visit the doctor to determine what you are experiencing. This information should be used as provisions for questions to the doctor.

Why self diagnosis dangerous?

There are some real dangers that can arise regarding self-diagnosing behavior. The following include:

1. Wrong diagnosis

Several health problems can have similar symptoms. For example, you may cough a lot. Coughing can be a sign of various health problems, ranging from colds, disorders in the airways, even stomach acid disorders.

When you do not visit the doctor and decide to guess what happened to you, it could be that these estimates have missed the truth. As a result, you don't get the right treatment.

2. More serious health problems were not detected

The psychological symptoms you experience could be the result of physical health problems.

For example, what you think is panic disorder may be the result of an irregular heartbeat or a problem with the thyroid gland.

In other cases, brain tumors can affect the parts of the brain that regulate emotions and personality.

The one who did self diagnosis may think he is having a personality disorder, even though there is a dangerous tumor lodged in his brain.

3. Wrong taking medication

If you make a wrong diagnosis, it is likely that the treatment will be wrong as well.

The risk to health is even greater if you take drugs at random or undergo treatment methods that are not medically recommended.

Even if there are drugs that may not be dangerous, taking the wrong medication will not cure the complaints you are experiencing.

For example, antidepressant drugs will not be able to treat symptoms of depression if the cause is a tumor in the brain.

4. Trigger more severe health problems

Self diagnosis sometimes it can lead to health problems that you don't actually experience.

For example, you are currently experiencing insomnia or prolonged stress. The real problem isn't a psychological disorder, like depression.

However, all the information you receive from your local community, apart from your doctor, states that your insomnia and stress are indicative of depression and sleep disorders.

If you continue to worry, you are at risk of developing depression that was not there before.

Self-diagnosing behavior is not only misleading, but also harmful to health.

If not treated wisely, health information that should be useful can actually cause excessive concern.

When experiencing symptoms of a disease, all you need to do is consult a doctor to find out the exact cause.

Avoid self diagnosis and share any concerns you have so that the doctor can determine the correct diagnosis.