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Abstract
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Aims: Recently, there has been an increase in young people who are self-diagnosing with mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety, without receiving a clinical diagnosis. There could be many benefits to self-diagnosis, alongside drawbacks, but little empirical research has been conducted in this area. As such, this research aims to explore and increase our understanding of this phenomenon among UK-based young people, with a focus on influences and implications.
Methods: Two qualitative studies will be conducted. In Study 1, 15-30 school-aged adolescents (11-18 years) will take part in online semi-structured interviews about their perceptions and attitudes towards self-diagnosing mental health problems amongst themselves and their peers. Participants are welcome to draw on lived experience but do not need to. Study 2 will build on these findings and ask older adolescents and young adults (16-25 years) to complete an anonymous online qualitative survey about their lived experiences of self-diagnosing mental health problems. Each dataset will be analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Initial findings will be presented. Potential themes may address topics such as young people’s thoughts and feelings towards self-diagnosis, the process of self-diagnosis, reactions and responses, influences or reasons why young people turn to self-diagnosis, and potential benefits and drawbacks, at both an individual and societal level.
Conclusions: The findings from these studies are anticipated to improve our understanding of why young people self-diagnose with mental health problems, with implications regarding how key stakeholders can help support young people as they make sense of and navigate their distress.
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