The Phenomenon of Self-diagnosis among Psychology Students based on Academic Learning of Symptoms

Description

Page: 390-396

Kashish Chauhan and Ranju Lal (Department of Psychology, School of Liberal Education, Galgotias University, Uttar Pradesh)

Psychology students commonly face a loop of self-diagnosis, driven by their exposure to extensive information about mental health symptoms, which can lead to increased anxiety and other mental health difficulties. As they interact closely with psychological concepts, they may begin to misunderstand everyday experiences as indicators of mental illness. This situation, related to “medical student syndrome,” is prevalent among students of behavioural and social sciences, though it appears less frequently in medical students. This study takes a closer look at how widespread self-diagnosis is among psychology students and explores the key factors driving this growing trend. A group of 100 psychology students participated in a survey to explore how their academic learning influences their tendency to self-diagnose, with a particular focus on self-stigmatization. To better understand the impact of self-stigma on their mental health, the study used three key tools: the Self Stigma Questionnaire (SSQ) developed by King et al. (2007), the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale developed by Ritsher, Otilingam, and Grajales in 2003, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS) developed by Peter Lovibond and Susan Lovibond in 1995. This research provided valuable insights into how self-stigmatization shapes the mental well-being of psychology students, especially when it comes to their likelihood of self-diagnosing.