when it comes to self-diagnosis discourse online, i feel that people living outside western europe & north america are severely underrepresented in the debates, if not ignored entirely, & that poses a significant problem. especially because those of us from the 'third world' often suffer mental health issues at higher rates than in the west, due to ongoing wars, famine, extreme patriarchal structures, imperialist exploitation, etc.
the points made regarding whether self-diagnosis is 'acceptable' are always limited to affordability & quality of care within the context of the global north/western countries. what never seems to be mentioned is that millions of people live in other parts of the world where psychiatric medicine is still stuck in the early 20th century at best, or completely nonexistent at worst.
in my country, there are less than five licensed psychiatrists. yes, you read that correctly. less than five. that's not a guess nor hyperbole, licensing is kept track of, & that is all we have to support a population of tens of millions of people. the total number of professionals in the broader mental health field is less than 100, & the vast majority have very limited training/education, but they're all we've got. despite the lack of professionals, close to 90% of the population is estimated to have some sort of mental illness or disorder due to the several decades of our nation suffering invasions, occupations, genocide & gendered violence.
so, to me, self-diagnosis isn't about insurance, or whether any of the 250 therapists in your immediate area happen to specialise in your particular disorder, or whether it's affordable to access. i'm not saying those aren't still legitimate obstacles or that you have it all perfectly easy in your first world countries; i'm just asking you to consider the rest of us, who can't even communicate our disorders with our families or communities because the language for it doesn't even exist yet in our mother tongue. to consider the several millions of us who don't even have the option of seeing a shitty therapist, because there are no therapists. common practice in my hometown, to this day, is to chain the mentally ill to religious shrines until they're 'cured'. so, frankly, i don't care whether some westerners with the privilege of having a developed healthcare system think self-diagnosis is 'invalid' when it is literally our only option.
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