Today I want to discuss the topic of the harms of self-diagnosis of mental illnesses. In our age of easy availability of information on the Internet, it may seem that the opinion of a specialist is not needed at all, or that a specialist (who has studied for several years!) may be wrong. Yes, this happens, however, a specialist is still more competent in matters of mental illness. An important aspect here is cooperation with a specialist, and excessive self-confidence can turn against self-diagnosis. Let’s give a definition. Self-diagnosis is the process of diagnosing or identifying a disease in oneself. In most cases, people search Google (Yandex, Bing, whatever) for a symptom and try to find out if they have the disease. Self-diagnosis is often misleading and can mislead people, as it is easy to become confused by the nearly 200 forms of mental illness. While it is good to be aware of your mental health and actively seek answers, you should not try to self-diagnose a mental illness. Getting a diagnosis can be a difficult process, especially when a person exhibits symptoms associated with multiple mental illnesses. This can lead to ignoring important symptoms to “tailor” your diagnosis. But the diagnosis is made to the person, not the person to the diagnosis. This is an attempt to put a size 37 shoe on a size 46 foot. In other cases, a person may think that he has several diseases that can actually be explained by one disease. For example, if a person is depressed and has problems with attention and lack of sleep, they may think they have depression, ADHD, and a sleep disorder. However, depression can cause all three of the above symptoms. This can make the situation worse, increasing anxiety levels and leading to attempts at self-medication. When a person misdiagnoses their symptoms, they may try to treat their condition with diet, over-the-counter medications, or other methods that may complicate the true condition. If a person addresses a specific symptom while ignoring the underlying source of the problem, their original mental illness may worsen (if they have one at all). In some cases, self-diagnosis can be life-threatening. For example, a brain tumor can cause personality changes, as well as depression or psychosis—or, if you are self-diagnosed with panic disorder, you may miss a diagnosis of heart or thyroid problems. Another example: If a person is experiencing common symptoms such as a headache, search results for possible causes may range from a brain tumor to simple dehydration. Self-diagnosis is dangerous. There are also many cases when a person misses something that he himself does not see. For example, a person may feel overwhelmed by anxiety, which makes them think they have an anxiety disorder. Although this may be the case, an anxiety disorder often masks a depressive disorder. Up to two-thirds of people who seek treatment for anxiety also suffer from depression. As I said above, self-diagnosis leads to self-medication, which can worsen the condition, in addition, when finding confirmation of their diagnoses on the Internet, people may think that the specialist is “the fool himself.” and can interfere with the diagnosis by remaining silent about symptoms, or by entering into open confrontation with a specialist, which does not contribute to the formation of a trusting relationship.