dethklit:

smitethepatriarchy: holymashedpotatoesbatman: klinki: self diagnosing is so hard because everytime you’re like “maybe I am mentally ill” theres also a big part of you going “nah you’re probably just a naturally lazy/nasty/disgusting/useless person trying to find an excuse for your behavior” because of the institutionalized ableism that runs through everything So go to the doctor and get an actual diagnosis? Why don’t poor people just buy more money? The way they diagnosed me at the hospital was literally by asking me what i thought i had. so fuck off with that shit. Self-diagnosis is actually better because you know yourself, ur mind, and ur body better than a doctor who doesn’t really give two shits about you.

My GP told me something really interesting at my yearly checkup back in November when i mentioned some concerns i had but prefaced them with “i don’t want you to think I’m self-dx’ing…”



wanna know what he said? Hold on to your butts…

He said “in my experience, most self-dx’s are either right, or are close to the mark. You’re the only one qualified to tell me what you are experiencing.”

I know. Shocking.

don’t even get me started on how bias, stigma, and bigotry on the part of medical professionals impacts diagnosis and treatment, which has been the center of both activism and academic study. I’m lucky to have the doctor i have, but most people don’t. So if you’re gonna act like “official” diagnoses are a unidirectional flow of knowledge, coming from an “expert” and bestowed upon those of us not “worthy” to be considered “experts” in our own experiences, at least acknowledge the power dynamics you are enacting when you do so.

(via dethklit-deactivated20160227)