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self-diagnosis

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Self-diagnosis is the process of diagnosing, or identifying, medical conditions in oneself. It may be assisted by medical dictionaries, books, resources on the Internet, past personal experiences, or recognizing symptoms or medical signs of a condition that a family member previously had or currently has.

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Encyclopedic overview

22 sections
Contents
  • Appropriate use
  • Influencing factors
  • Marketing
  • Direct-to-consumer advertising
  • Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)
  • Self-diagnosis kits
  • Smartphone applications
  • The role of stigma
  • Public stigma
  • Support
  • Prevalence of the internet
  • Smartphone applications
  • Use of chatbots
  • Social media
  • Impact on varying demographics
  • Ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds
  • Vulnerable demographics
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • The benefits and costs for vulnerable demographics
  • Age
  • See also
  • References

Self-diagnosis is the process of diagnosing, or identifying, medical conditions in oneself. It may be assisted by medical dictionaries, books, resources on the Internet, past personal experiences, or recognizing symptoms or medical signs of a condition that a family member previously had or currently has.

Depending on the nature of an individual's condition and the accuracy of the information they access, self-diagnoses can vary greatly in their safety. Due to self-diagnoses' varied accuracy, public attitudes toward self-diagnosis include denials of its legitimacy and applause of its ability to promote healthcare access and allow for individuals to find solidarity and support. Furthermore, external influences such as marketing, social media trends, societal stigma around disease, and to which demographic population one belongs greatly affect the use of self-diagnosis.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “self-diagnosis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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