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Many people who suffer from mental illness or disorders might search up their symptoms online so they can have something to relate to. This might inspire them to make content based on their struggles, and so on and so forth. Somewhere along the line, someone who doesn't have the disorder also sees the content and starts an account where they mimic the behaviors of said disorder. I've seen a lot of this happening on Tiktok, with people faking Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, and more notably, Tourette's Syndrome and DID.
Initially, this isn't really a problem, as it looks more like spreading awareness, however, the people mimicking disorders also spread misinformation on the subject, giving other people a warped idea of how a mental illness works, therefore furthering the misunderstanding of an already taboo subject. This can also have close-to-home repercussions. For example, if 8/10 people who go to a neurologist say they have Tourette's and are faking it, the neurologist will automatically believe the next person coming in will be faking it as well. If this happens, people who have it who are undiagnosed will have a harder time receiving treatment for it.
If you believe you may have a mental illness or disorder, please have it professionally diagnosed before you give people advice on how to deal with it. If you cannot afford it, look into other options for a certified professional, because self-diagnosis is not valid. It's somewhat tricky to accurately diagnose within the field of psychiatry because one symptom of a disorder is also a symptom of other disorders. It's hard enough for someone who has studied mental illness for 10 years to make a firm and accurate diagnosis, let alone a 12 year old who took a quiz online.
Please do not self-diagnose or fake disorders on/offline! It can be incredibly harmful to people who actually have it.
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