Australians are increasingly diagnosing themselves with complex mental health conditions after scrolling through social media or chatting with artificial intelligence, a shift experts say risks misdiagnosis, delayed treatment and worsening symptoms. Clinical psychologist Professor Jill Newby from UNSW Sydney notes the rise in people diagnosing themselves with conditions such as ADHD or OCD after seeing relatable online content is a serious concern.
“When you’re looking at information online or watching videos, you might not even be searching for that information,” Newby said. “But it’s relatable – you can empathise with that person or see similarities in your own experience – and that can lead you down a rabbit hole of self-diagnosis.”
Newby explains that the language of diagnosis has crept into everyday conversation. While it can reduce stigma, it also blurs the line between normal human experience and mental illness. “OCD is a particularly interesting one because the symptoms are actually quite common,” she said. “Intrusive thoughts are very normal – around 90 per cent of people have them. The difference between that and OCD is the severity and impact of those experiences.”
Many Australians are now convinced they have a disorder simply because they recognise themselves in online-described symptoms. “We run a risk of pathologising what are quite normal human emotions and normal human experiences,” she added. Algorithms that promote similar content amplify this tendency, reinforcing people’s beliefs. “Access to social media increases risk because information gets sent to you that reinforces what you’re worrying about,” Newby said. “If you believe you have OCD, you’ll be fed information that convinces you you’re right.”
The phenomenon has drawn attention from the Australian Medical Association (AMA), which is also confronting a digital danger – fake medical professionals appearing across social media. AI-generated images front pages for fictitious doctors claiming to offer advice on men’s health, dermatology, weight loss and sex therapy. AMA president Dr Danielle McMullen warns these fabricated profiles erode public trust in genuine clinicians.
“Profiles like this are really dangerous because the community doesn’t know what they can or can’t trust online when things are purporting to be from a health professional but they really aren’t,” she said. Some pages have touted medicines falsely claimed to be regulator-approved, while others collect personal data under the guise of health advice.
Newby emphasizes that the spread of misinformation underscores how blurred the digital health landscape has become. “People are being fed content that looks authoritative, often dressed up to sound medical, but it’s not always factual or balanced.” She sees a parallel in mental health where AI chatbots and social media influencers shape how Australians interpret their symptoms.
A UK survey by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy found nearly one in 20 people are comfortable talking to an AI chatbot about mental health, while one in 10 seek support from social media influencers. BACP therapist Kate Bufton warns that such accounts can help with psychoeducation but often lack nuance and fail to capture the complexity of individuals’ experiences.
Reports suggest patients have even brought AI-generated transcripts to counselling sessions to challenge their therapists. The ChatGPT-maker announced plans to adjust responses to distress after concerns raised by the family of a teenager who took his life following chatbot conversations. Newby notes that Australia is not immune: “We’re seeing people arrive to therapy having already diagnosed themselves – and sometimes they argue with their doctor, saying ‘Well, this is what the internet told me.’ That can undermine trust in health professional advice.”
Her concern centers on what happens next: “I’d love to see it the other way around – people notice symptoms, then access health professional support. But I suspect a lot are self-diagnosing and leaving it at that. If they’re waiting a long time before accessing help because of internet content, that could worsen symptoms.”
Newby advocates leveraging technology to balance, rather than reinforce, fears. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if someone searching for OCD got fed evidence-based information from ‘OCD Australia,’ if such a place existed?”
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