Is self-diagnosis valid? This is something that’s coming out in neurodiverse communities and many people who are autistic for example will say yes, well part of that is because it’s a pain to get an autism diagnosis. There are also people who say it is over-diagnosed. So, on one hand having that understanding of yourself can be helpful, but let’s use another nerve diverse example like ADHD.

If you look at the symptoms of ADHD and you’re like “that’s me, I have ADHD” and you diagnose yourself with that you still don’t have access to the correct medication. You still don’t have access to treatment. In the United States you know maybe you can pay someone out of pocket for therapy but you’re lower down on the tier list of what’s really helpful. Talk therapy isn’t that great for ADHD the therapist can provide some tips on how to live with it which can be helpful, but it doesn’t really change the experience of it.

Medication can help, neurofeedback can help, so getting that diagnosis from a professional so you have access to treatment is of huge importance. You might not be wrong, but you absolutely might be wrong. It may have started after a head injury maybe that was responsible for the onset. Maybe it has nothing to do with the connectivity of your brain or the amount of dopamine that you’re experiencing, or the dopamine reuptake. It could have to do with an injury, dissociation, or PTSD. That would be an entirely different treatment.

For something like PTSD, EMDR would be incredibly helpful for, but EMDR for ADHD doesn’t do anything. EMDR an emotional regulation treatment it helps regulate emotions sustained from some type of trauma. Sure, there’s emotion that comes with ADHD, this would help that person with their emotional experiences that feelings triggered, but it wouldn’t treat the ADHD. Self-diagnosis is not a valid way to know if you have certain health issues, seek out a professional to help you with your concerns.