Using the Internet for Mental Health Advice? Proceed with Caution

Many of us turn to the internet from time to time when wondering about our mental health. Do I have ADHD? What are the symptoms of depression? Am I too anxious?

A massive volume of helpful information lives online, and the internet offers an easy way to learn more about subjects we might not be comfortable discussing out loud.

While you may not hesitate to talk with a friend or family member about your physical health, that isn’t always the case when it comes to mental health. The internet allows you to search anonymously about matters you consider too personal.

Dangers of Dr. Google

But if you aren’t careful, this unfiltered stream can be worth even less than you pay for it (often not much at all). In some cases, it can even lead to hazardous self-diagnosis. Among the dangers:

• Information overload: The sheer volume of information at your fingertips can be daunting. A simple search for information on depression or another condition may send you into a spiraling search that leads ever deeper into a rabbit hole with no boundaries or opportunities to exit the spiral.
• Quantity over quality: What starts as a quest for authoritative information can end up traveling to dozens of websites and message boards. The quality of the available information can vary widely. You may start with well-known and reputable sites. But it doesn’t take long to find unreputable – or even deliberately misleading – sources.
• Context matters: A simple list of symptoms has limited value on its own. Determining whether you have an anxiety disorder, for example, requires a more careful evaluation. If you live in a community where you don’t feel safe, you may have a perfectly rational reason for feeling anxious.
• Wrong treatment: If you believe you have a mental health disorder, you may be tempted to develop your own treatment plan with help from the internet. Understand that there are currently more than 4,000 distinct manualized treatment approaches for various mental health conditions. Most do not have research support. It’s easy to choose an ineffective treatment, which could make matters worse if you don’t start feeling better.
• Isolation: The stigma associated with mental health issues could discourage you from seeking the kind of external help that is critical to most treatments.

Safe Searching Strategies

To get the most out of your internet searches, start by focusing only on reputable websites, including hospitals, health care associations and government sites. If you find something interesting on social networking sites like TikTok, make sure it’s backed up by a trusted resource and not just marketing or the opinion of an influencer. If someone is promoting a treatment, search for evidence that it has been tested and validated.

And when you do your searches, be as specific as possible. If you are researching anxiety, you will certainly include a list of your symptoms, which could include trembling, racing heart, difficulty breathing and tightness in your chest. But you also need to offer some context: Do you feel a sense of impending doom? Are you in the middle of a struggling relationship? Are you having trouble at work? Without that elaboration, you could point yourself to heart issues and other serious medical problems.

Benefits

For anyone coping with mental health issues, feelings of isolation and loneliness can add to the pain. The internet offers a doorway to find a connection with other people and to realize that you aren’t alone in your struggles. Those connections can help you adapt by learning what has been helpful for other people.

The right information can also answer questions and provide peace of mind.

There are many conditions, bipolar disorder for example, that are poorly understood by the general population. Simply having mood swings throughout the day doesn’t mean you have the disorder, which can only be diagnosed by a professional with proper training.

Think of an internet search as one step on your mental health journey. If your research leads you to believe you have a disorder, it’s time to talk with a professional. They can help you better understand what’s happening and thoroughly examine the information you have gathered.