Navigating clinical work with the 'social media knowledge'

Doctors have people coming to them with an 'internet knowledge' of their symptoms [meeee !]. This began years ago.

Now, we have this phenomenon in mental health. Hello XXIst century !

what do we hear in the therapists' playgrounds ?

'It's terribly worrying' [that one is probably the most common] / 'it's the way it is' [fatalists] / 'that is so deeply wrong'. . .

Right, so obviously we have all sorts of reactions from professionals.

Suggestion: how about taking it with as much rigor and common sense as possible ? The massive majority of us are on social medias: kids and adults, professionally and/or personally, so let's not be hypocritical ;)

Better be honest about it: accept the fact and reflect on how it may modify our work in its frame and content for better.

I cannot count the number of people who begin their therapy telling me about the current trend in social media-mental health and what they are living with:

~ my partner is a narcissist / I have ADHD / my kid is high potential / I have PTSD or c-PTSD / I am dissociating . . .

ok I say, interesting [because I genuinely am]; I suggest we unpeel what YOU are living with and how it feels like for you in your life at the moment

Differential diagnostic is sort of an obssession of mine [I was discussing this with a colleague last week - I loved hearing she agreed on the fact that this is the discussion we must have], simply because of the consequences if/when getting a wrong diagnostic.

A wrong diagnosis from what can be seen and heard onsocial medias? Yes, that happens ! ... as well as from proper professional evaluations by the way ;) and some professional are right on point and fabulous with their evaluations. Thank you Bethany Brand for your book 'the concise guide to the assessment and treatment of trauma-related dissociation' - reading going on here !]

Proper diagnostic is key

Hence the importance of our clinical observation and dialogue with the individual, in respecting fully how they arrive to their self-diagnosis when they do. Isn't that the foundation and core of our work anyway ;) Anything new then ?

We must acknowledge that many of us clinicians are sort of XXth century dinosaurs in a way [well, I am !] and it is important to practice our art with the psycho-social reality of the society we are living in both our clients and us, and so working with

It is important that we keep our clinical north pole + critical mind to stay on the path of reality Vs. social medias trends and sometimes BS.

or we are out and won't do our job properly

Thank you social medias for talking about mental health, we need more awareness, always

and shut up when you talk rubbish [dreamer here !]

Nothing new in content

What is new is the way we are being challenged as professionals and I love that as it is an opportunity to stand up for better and finer work while riding the high and fast wave of that difficult mental health clinical work.

What do you think and how do you navigate this in the therapy space ?