According to a “recent study,” conducted by a company that maintains an online self-diagnostic tool and then misinterpreted by some website on the internet, “1 in 4 British women has misdiagnosed themselves on the Internet.” Mind you, this wasn’t just posted on any old internet, it was posted on the Internet, so it’s totally legit, guys. I believe it. (By the way, Jezebel has some commentary that, while not problem-free, tickles the funny bone.)
This blog needs more color, so here's a rainbow.
Regardless, it raises some important questions about the role of diagnosis and self-diagnosis. When overused or used irresponsibly, self-diagnosis on the internet can lead to a lot of unnecessary worry. It’s an especially big problem in a culture that does not openly discuss bodies or illness, making it difficult to determine what is “normal” and “abnormal” for a body to do. Female bodies, disabled bodies, older bodies, trans bodies, and non-white bodies, in particular, are susceptible to this kind of worry. If your body was never “normal” to begin with, how can you possibly know if something is wrong? If your body has always been strange or mysterious or untrustworthy, when does it cross the line from weird to dangerous, or sick?
I don’t have exact answers to these questions. I do know, however, that since the majority of people cannot afford to see a doctor every time their body aches or something leaks, and since most female, aging, disabled, trans, and non-white bodies (to name a few) are not given serious consideration in the doctor’s office, the internet is an important diagnostic tool. Several years ago, for reasons I can’t remember, I found a diagnosis for myself on the internet, and it was a major turning point. As far as I knew, this was the way that I had always been, but at that time, I started to realize that it wasn’t the way that I would always have to be. It didn’t change my anxiety, but just having a name for it allowed me two conceptualize the phobia and my personality as two separate things.
These people stared at this x-ray for hours before realizing that it was blank.
When I later filled out an inventory or questionnaire, I hit every one of the symptoms. But I never would have known that these were symptoms without coming across that page on the internet. How could a doctor have possibly diagnosed me if I never expressed that anything was wrong?
Of course, my story might be unusual, and it might be somewhat unique due to my class privilege. Still, I maintain that the internet should have a place in diagnosis, since no doctor can ever know a person’s body better than the person themself. What do you think? Does self-diagnosis cause more harm than good? How can the internet be used or changed to improve diagnosis and available medical information?
Unruly Bodies 
I’m guilty of self diagnosing via the internet a lot. Most of the time, I turn out to be wrong; I have found that quite a few sites purporting medical knowledge use often generalized descriptions for bodily illnesses, which can make one suspect that a common symptom of something going wrong with one’s body (i.e. a cough) is a sign of a serious malady. Internet sites needs to incorporate more specific information about illnesses.
On the other hand, in terms of mental illness, there is a distinct set of criteria that is used to diagnose such sickness. That criteria is given on websites about mental illness at times. Also, there are certain mental illnesses where, given that one has some background in psychology, one can – at least in my believe – have a clue as to whether or not they have it. For instance, I knew I had post traumatic stress disorder even before I was diagnosed with it.
All of that being said – I don’t think anyone should just rely on self diagnosis for bodily or mental health illnesses. That’s what professionals are trained for. But I think some level of self diagnosis occurs anyway before we go to doctors, psychiatrists, etc. – we know something is wrong with our bodies.
This is definitely a complicated issue because health is something that only the privileged really get a chance to address and correct when there is a problem. In the day and age where a burger is cheaper than a salad, it is clear that we are on our own when it comes to staying healthy. There is something fundamentally wrong considering one’s health is what gives them access to function. I agree with you in saying that the internet is an important tool when it comes to self-diagnosis. Many people are able to access the internet even if they do not own their own computer. I also see the issues that arise from self-diagnosis to be troubling. I recently had my own health scare in which I convinced myself that I had something serious. Although I figured out that I didn’t after going to the doctor, I am glad that it did prompt me to seek medical attention. While this worked out for me, I have health insurance and was able to access a doctor. This is not true for many people, so this makes me wonder what the good of self-diagnosing is when one does not possess the means to do anything about their condition? This is not to say that treatment can only come from Western medicine, even simple holistic treatments and diet changes are extremely costly.
I always tell myself not to self-diagnose on the internet because everything leads to pregnancy or cancer, then ultimately death if you listen to the internet most of the time. I do, however, think that it is important to have an aspect of self-diagnosis before even going to the doctor or the internet. We are taught not to listen to our bodies too much. If we hurt, we have to keep going or immediately fix it. We, in my opinion, should become more in tune with our bodies. Our pains might need medicine to fix. We might just need water or more rest. Instead of finding out what our bodies need and taking the time to implement those practices, we run to medicine. I do believe that medicine has its place, but we need to know when. To me, self-diagnosis can also prevent doctors persuading us that nothing is wrong. We need to know our bodies better.