Who should Diagnose a mental health problem. ?How they do it.

This is information for information's sake. This is from Web Md and although I agree with the content; these are not my words. More and more frequently the internet is being used as a substitute for proper diagnosis. This is a good starting off spot, but no one, even if qualified can properly diagnosis any kind of medical problem on a forum.You can say,"NO kidding,", but it keeps happening. It can be a place to start, feel comfortable that you're not alone and then get proper care. I could put ths in rants & raves, but it belongs here. It's my personal problem with anyone who foregos treatment to talk on a forum. This is not an issue I have with this site or anyone on it; it's an issue I have with using the internet as a short cut. Just something to think about.

Psychological Disorders
The diagnosis of a psychological disorder requires evaluation by a trained mental-health professional and usually an interview, administration of a variety of personality tests (and in some cases, neuropsy-chological tests), and gathives at a diagnosis by comparing this information to that in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , the DSM-IV (IV for fourth edition, 1994), which uses a system devised by the American Psychiatric Association to classify psychological disorders. The classification system, which lists 16 categories of maladjustment and more than 200 subcategories, is designed to improve the reliability of diagnoses by using observable behaviors to categorize disorders and to ensure that diagnoses are consistent with current information. Diagnosis using this resource requires the use of five dimensions, or axes. Judgments must be made on each of the five axes, and a diagnostician must consider a broad range of information in making the diagnosis
The mental-health professional arrives at a diagnosis by comparing this information to that in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , the DSM-IV (IV for fourth edition, 1994), which uses a system devised by the American Psychiatric Association to classify psychological disorders. The classification system, which lists 16 categories of maladjustment and more than 200 subcategories, is designed to improve the reliability of diagnoses by using observable behaviors to categorize disorders and to ensure that diagnoses are consistent with current information. Diagnosis using this resource requires the use of five dimensions, or axes. Judgments must be made on each of the five axes, and a diagnostician must consider a broad range of information in making the diagnosis
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DSM-IV is far from perfect, but then since psychiatry is still a relatively new branch of medicine, that's not surprising.
However, it is still much better than the heresay and wishful thinking of most 'self-help' web sites.
Diagnosis is hit-and-miss when done by a professional, done by amateurs it's at best useles, and at worst dangerous or even deadly.

I agree about it being useless when done by amateurs, but people still love to be "armchair Psychologists". I don't do much of the diagnosis, but even when I receive one, I take it with a grain of salt. I may give it some credence after months of work with a patient.
I was looking at some sies this morning, one by someone with no training at all and it go my ire up.

Both my Doctor and Therapist have told me they have MORE paranoid patients since the WEB's so-called Qualified Medical Doctors and Mental Health Professionals advice and prognosis's.. And are not very happy with these types of sites in the least.

They discourage all their patients NOT to so much as click on any of these so called Medical and Mental Health Sites because the information is misleading and can cause a lot of damage to someone who takes everything written as FACT!!!!!

Many practicing UK psychiatrists regard a named diagnosis as something that is only needed to complete the paperwork and serves no other purpose. I know this from speaking the psyciatrists themselves on this issue.

In the UK, if you think you may need psychiatric help, the person to see is your GP, who will have had enough mental health training to make a reasonable decision on whether to refer you or not.

It's making us a little nuts; people come in and tell you their diagnosis. They did it themselves.


John, GPs here can direct you the right way; but diagnosis of the human psyche is difficult on a good day. It takes forever and you're usually wrong.

You are right about internet diagnosis being very dangerous.Proffesionals are essential if the correct diagnosis is to be made.However,in my case it was nineteen years before Bi-Polar was diagnosed.Prior to that I was diagnosed Schitzefreniform delusions with an effective component,which goes to show that initial diagnosis is but a thread in some cases.That should help blow internet diagnosis out of the water.