To Be or Not To Be

It’s never a good idea to Google your symptoms. Somehow every headache equates a brain tumor and every missed period is a pregnancy. Just like how Google plays doctor, we play psychiatrist, except, we don’t Google our symptoms, we simply diagnose ourselves based on pop culture. For the longest time, I believed that I had adult ADD because I had trouble focusing on one task. Turns out I didn’t have ADD, I just had a distracting phone. At one point I thought I had a panic disorder because my heart would race periodically and I had difficulty catching my breath. Taking one less espresso shot in my latte seemed to do the trick.

Before playing Dr. Phil, be realistic. One of the best ways that I find to determine if you do have a real mental health concern is to ask yourself if your thoughts, behaviours or moods are preventing you from functioning. Are you hindered in any way? If you find that you spend a lot of time sleeping and generally have such low moods that you can’t get out of bed and run errands on a regular basis, it’s time to seek help. However, if you’re having one or two down days, it may not be a cause for concern. If you’re a self-proclaimed germaphobe who needs to sanitize his hands after every visit to the bathroom, there is a less of a need to seek help than if your fear of germs prevents you from even setting foot outside your home.

The bottom line is this: If the idea of you having a mental health concern crosses your mind, ask yourself if it is impeding your ability to function on a day-to-day basis. If it is and you would like to make improvements, speak to your family doctor or find an able therapist. If not, ask yourself what else it could be. Can you make changes in your diet, habits, thoughts, environment? Rule out other factors before going Dr. Phil on yourself.