Autism

Same.

The video feels very anti-expert or anti-science, almost. I couldn't finish it without wanting to hurl my phone in disgust.

There's a difference between self diagnosing a mental state that is entirely about how you personally perceive and interact with the world, and acting like science is somehow invalid just because it used to have bad ideas. If it wasn't for science and medical experts constantly self correcting and sharing knowledge, we might still be throwing autistic people in jail or trying to drill holes in their heads to release the demons. What was life like before people invented science to study the world around them?

Just because some things can be self-diagnosed, doesn't mean everything can.

Just because we don't have a perfect understanding of the world, doesn't mean science and medical experts are untrustworthy or clueless.

Just because individual people can be arrogant jerks (like my dentist two days ago), that doesn't mean the global effort from experts in every field and from every country is bad.

And most importantly, just because a layperson can point out flaws in entrenched institutions, doesn't mean they are more knowledgeable than the hundreds of thousands of trained experts that spend their lives trying to help others or expand our understanding of the world.

It's like someone reporting a software bug, and because they found the bug, they think the program is a virus and the developers are somehow less familiar with how it works than they are.

Bug reporting is part of the process that constantly makes software better. Same with medical science. It's just slower to change due to constant cultural and political pressures, despite the built in mechanisms that try to minimize those things.

The fact that anyone can be anti-science on a phone, using electricity, on the Internet, wearing clothes made of synthetic materials, in an air conditioned building, not starving or dying from a splinter, etc, is mind blowing.

I didn't see this as him saying that people know better than doctors.

I saw this as him saying that self diagnosis, especially with multiple tests from reasonably reliable sources, is a valuable tool in a wide variety of circumstances, and with autism in particular, has very few ill effects and is a net positive.

Including as a first step in the official diagnosis process.

There may be a number of reasons not to get an official diagnosis. When I self diagnosed for autism about... maybe 15 years ago, there was a three year wait list for the only psychiatric diagnosis thing I could afford. (I can't remember the details, it's been a while, but it was some government funded program.)

I have since gotten an official diagnosis, but getting the unofficial one first was extremely helpful for me in narrowing down where I should focus my efforts.

The guy, towards the end, was even encouraging people to get the official diagnosis - if they're able to, financially, etc. But starting with self diagnosis makes a great deal of sense.

The whole thing was about cutting down the myths and attacks around self diagnosis and saying people should be allowed to start there without getting attacked for it. That's all it is.

I, incidentally, am not anti vax or anti science. I'm a science teacher, as it happens, and science is totally my jam. I love how he included study information on accuracy rates of self diagnosis, and misdiagnosis rates for mental health issues with the medical field. I love how he encouraged people to get official diagnoses, and how his suggestions for the medical field were to increase access and affordability for people. This video did not strike me as anti science or anti psychiatry at all.

It's not actually anti-science though. He uses actual studies to back up his point of view. It is against the current medical system which has been proven to not always follow the latest science despite what doctors may claim. This is especially true for psychiatry and for patients who are marginalized. Doctors maybe aren't as scientific as people would like to believe, after all their job isn't scientific research.

Because most people use scientifically proven tests to determine whether or not they are autistic? The ones that are actually used during diagnosis by a doctor as well.