by Alex Wilson, accredited mental health social worker
You’re relaxing over dinner after a busy day of work and school responsibilities, and your teen pipes up with, ‘I think I have ADHD’. Or perhaps, “I saw a video about autism and it sounded exactly like me”. Or even perhaps, “I think I have trauma”.
As a parent, your initial reaction may be scepticism, frustration, or even offence… ‘What do you mean you have trauma – you have a great life!!!’
Teens today have unprecedented access to information about mental health conditions and diagnostic language. However, we know this information is not always accurate or credible. What we are seeing are teens with more language around mental health than even before… but not extra skills in deciphering what to do with this knowledge and language.
The positives of online mental health awareness
Increased dialogue of mental health and public awareness campaigns have no doubt helped reduce stigma, and increased help–seeking for mental illness.
For many people, online resources are the first place they look for information and guidance, which hopefully leads them to seeking professional help when warranted.
Online mental health information can provide:
- Language to help people describe their experiences.
- Validation that what they are experiencing is real and has significance.
- Understanding from others and reassurance that others have similar experiences.
- Access to support and resources.
A teenager who has struggled for years may feel enormous relief when they finally understand why school, emotions or relationships have felt harder than expected.
The catch: confirmation bias
Online content has a broad range of credibility levels, and social media platforms in particular reward emotional compelling content with likes, shares and engagement.
Short video–content can over–simplify complex mental health conditions, and algorithms will feed similar content once someone engages with a content theme.
This is where ‘self–diagnosis culture’ originates.
Mental health conditions are complex and difficult for even experts to confirm for a range of reasons:
- Many symptoms overlap across conditions.
- Normal human distress, taken out of context, can be mistaken for pathological concerns.
- Social media content rarely touches on ‘differential diagnosis’ (eg. What else could this be?) – which is a key part of diagnosis for trained mental health professionals.
There are some diagnoses that are over–represented in social media trends, and are showing higher rates of self–diagnosis as a result:
- ADHD
- Autism (ASD).
- Trauma conditions.
- Dissociation.
- Personality disorders.
- These conditions share some key features in common:
- They have vague symptoms.
- Rely on subjective reporting.
- Lack any clear biomedical markers (eg. Blood tests) to confirm or exclude.
- Can be highly context–related.
The Risk of ‘Identity Engulfment’
Sometimes a diagnosis becomes helpful. However, sometimes it can become someone’s entire identity.
There are four main categories of identity and diagnosis:
Engulfment: this is when the medical diagnosis engulfs the persons sense of identity. They see themselves as highly fused with their disorder, eg. ‘I am my disorder’.
Rejection: when the person entirely rejects the idea they have the disorder, and refuses to acknowledge it or it’s impact.
Acceptance: when the person sees their disorder as a part of their experience, but it is not fused with their identity. They also have a sense of who they are aside from their disorder.
Growth: when a person feels their diagnosis has benefited them in personal growth and they are a better version of themselves for having been given the diagnosis.
Young people are still forming their identity, so this is especially relevant for teens. Engulfment with a disorder may stop them seeing themselves as capable, resilient or hopeful for growth.
How parents can help
There are key approaches parents can employ to best support teens navigating online mental health content and self–diagnosis:
Stay curious: try not to be dismissive, but ask lots of questions to understand what your teen is experiencing and struggling with.
Avoid arguing about labels: listen for the emotional experience rather than focusing in diagnosis. Ask questions such as, ‘What about that video feels relatable?’ or ‘What feels the hardest for you to manage at the moment?’
Validate: listen to understand your teens experience and validate what that may be like for them. Communicate understanding of how this is difficult for them.
Seek professional assessment: offer to help with arranging further discussion, support or assessment with a suitably qualified professional, and help your teen arrange this if desired.
Facilitating regular conversations with your teen can help them navigate the confusing world of self–diagnosis and online information. Bringing an open, curious and compassionate attitude to these conversations ensures young people can be guided to the appropriate support channels and start accessing credible resources to improve their symptoms.
Alex Wilson is the Director of Mindful Recovery Services and the Central Coast DBT Centre, and an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker. Her and her team are experts in providing psychological treatment and support for adolescents and adults. Alex is passionate about dispelling myths about mental illness, and is highly skilled in dialectical behavioural therapy. She is an experienced public speaker and provides consultation to other professionals on managing difficult behaviours in teens.