A new study sheds light on the growing trend of self-diagnosis of mental health conditions, linking it to what researchers term “concept creep” – the expanding understanding of what constitutes a mental disorder. Published in SSM – Mental Health, the research by Jesse S.Y. Tse and Nick Haslam from the University of Melbourne reveals that individuals with broader interpretations of psychiatric disorders are significantly more likely to self-diagnose and seek professional help. This holds true even when factors like distress, functional impairment, mental health awareness, and stigma are considered.
Furthermore, the study highlights demographic trends, indicating that younger individuals and those with liberal political views are more predisposed to self-diagnosis and seeking psychiatric assistance. While self-diagnosis can be a catalyst for help-seeking in some cases, the researchers caution that it also carries risks of overdiagnosis, unnecessary service utilization, maladaptive coping mechanisms, and a diminished sense of control over one’s condition.
This study comes amidst increasing concerns within the research community regarding the surge in psychiatric self-labeling, particularly among younger demographics. Prior research has associated this trend with negative impacts on self-esteem, increased stigma, and heightened emotional distress.
The Role of Concept Creep in Self-Diagnosis
Tse and Haslam’s research delves into the phenomenon of “concept creep,” which they define as the gradual expansion of the definition of mental disorder to encompass a wider array of behaviors and emotional experiences. This expansion occurs both horizontally, where more behaviors are classified as disorders, and vertically, where milder forms of distress are pathologized.
One prominent example of concept creep is the relatively recent introduction of “prolonged grief disorder.” This diagnosis controversially labels individuals experiencing intense grief beyond six months to a year after loss as mentally ill. Critics argue that this medicalizes a normal human experience, opening the door for pharmaceutical interventions that frame grief as an “addiction” treatable with medication.
According to Tse and Haslam, this concept creep fuels concerns about “diagnostic inflation, medicalization, pathologization, and psychiatrization.” These criticisms converge on the idea that the boundaries of mental disorder have expanded, leading to the classification of previously normal experiences as pathological.
Investigating Individual Perceptions of Mental Disorder
To understand how concept creep manifests at an individual level, Tse and Haslam investigated how people perceive mental disorders and how these perceptions influence self-views. Their study involved 474 participants who completed an online questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed horizontal and vertical concept creep by presenting various behaviors and levels of distress, asking participants to judge whether the described person had a mental disorder.
The study also measured participants’ distress and impairment levels, mental health literacy, and stigma perceptions. Crucially, it inquired about past and present self-diagnosis, professional diagnosis, and help-seeking behaviors.
The findings revealed that a significant majority of participants (60.76%) had self-diagnosed a mental disorder at some point, while 43.46% had received a professional diagnosis. Currently, 41.56% self-diagnosed, and 31.65% had a current professional diagnosis.
Statistical analysis showed that broader concepts of mental disorder, low stigma, functional impairment, and high mental health literacy were associated with receiving a professional diagnosis. Distress levels, however, were not linked to professional diagnosis.
Conversely, broader concepts, low stigma, high mental health literacy, and high distress were linked to self-diagnosis, while functional impairment was not. The study further revealed that younger age and liberal political views were correlated with both broader concepts of mental disorder and self-diagnosis. Statistical analysis indicated that broader concepts partially explained the age and political orientation findings, independent of factors like gender, race, education, and income.
Implications for Youth Mental Health and Beyond
Tse and Haslam emphasize that their findings raise critical questions about the perceived youth mental health crisis. The study suggests that younger generations may be more susceptible to concept creep, potentially leading to the medicalization of normal adolescent experiences.
They caution that while broader concepts might help some individuals correctly identify genuine mental health issues, they also risk leading others to misinterpret subclinical or transient problems as disorders. This misinterpretation can have detrimental consequences, including feelings of lost control, ineffective coping strategies, iatrogenic illness (harm caused by medical intervention), and unnecessary treatment.
The research underscores the complex relationship between understanding mental health, self-perception, and the increasing trend of self-diagnosis. As concepts of mental disorder continue to evolve, it becomes crucial to foster a nuanced understanding that promotes help-seeking when truly needed while mitigating the risks of overdiagnosis and the pathologization of everyday life.
Reference
SSM – Mental Health, 6, 100326. (Link)
