"From yesterday, how come, mood-my unstable, huh? Maybe I'm bipolar here!” Try to remember, have you ever thought like that? If so, be careful, yes. Self diagnosis it can be bad for your health.
Self diagnosis is an attempt to self-diagnose based on information obtained independently. This information can be obtained from anywhere, such as friends, family, internet, or previous experiences.
In fact, the actual diagnosis of a disease can only be made by medical personnel, such as doctors, psychiatrists, or psychologists.
Danger Self Diagnosis What to Watch Out for
There are some bad effects that may appear when you do self diagnosis, among others:
Wrong diagnosis
Establishing a diagnosis is not easy. The diagnosis is determined based on a thorough analysis of symptoms, previous medical history, environmental factors, as well as physical examination findings and investigations.
Not infrequently, various follow-up examinations and in-depth observations are needed to find out whether there is a problem with a person's physical or mental state.
When doing self diagnosis, you can very well miss these important factors, so that you end up concluding the wrong diagnosis. Moreover, if the information you get comes from untrusted sources.
You need to know that experiencing one or two symptoms of a disease does not mean you have the disease. Not to mention, there are many diseases that have similar symptoms.
For example, irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer, both of which have symptoms of diarrhea and constipation. As another example, deep feelings of sadness can be a symptom of bipolar or depression, but they can also be a normal psychological response to an event.
Wrong handling
If the diagnosis is not correct, it is likely that the treatment will also be wrong. After self diagnosis, a person may buy the wrong medicine or take another medication. In fact, every disease has a different treatment, type of drug, and dose of medication.
Consumption of the wrong drug can actually cause new health problems, trigger side effects and drug interactions, or even drug dependence. Although there are some drugs that do not cause any harmful side effects, if the wrong drug is used, the complaints you feel will not improve with these drugs.
Trigger more severe health problems
Due to misdiagnosing and not getting the right treatment, the disease you are suffering from can actually get worse or add new problems (complications). This is because the medicine you are taking does not have any impact on the disease you are experiencing.
For example, after finding out for yourself, a person can diagnose and treat complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath, and coughing up phlegm that he is experiencing as bronchitis. In fact, these complaints can also be symptoms of a more severe disease, such as pneumonia or even heart disease.
Let's assume what he actually had was pneumonia. If not treated properly, pneumonia can cause various complications, ranging from pleural effusion to respiratory failure.
On the other hand, if the person perceives his complaint as pneumonia even though he actually has bronchitis, he may be taking medicines that are not really needed. This can cause unwanted side effects.
When viewed from the other side, self diagnosis can be a form of concern for oneself and a careful attitude to the changes that occur in his own body. However, this form of concern will be in vain if it ends up endangering yourself.
To get the right examination and treatment, it is better to consult a doctor if you feel a disturbing symptom. If you want another opinion, you can ask a doctor or other specialist, how come.
You can still find information about your complaint or what solution is best for you. However, use this as a provision to discuss with the doctor, right? self diagnosis, so that you really understand what is happening to you and get the right treatment.