Can Self-diagnosis decrease an individual anxiety?

Abstract

In this digital age, access to health information has become easier. The ease of finding health information has led to the emergence of self-diagnosis behavior, which is when individuals diagnose themselves based on information they receive from various sources such as the internet. Self-diagnosis can be caused by several factors, such as curiosity, emotional pressure, fear of medical diagnosis, and low mental health literacy. This phenomenon has implications for increased mental health issues, such as heightened anxiety and cognitive disorders. This study aims to examine the relationship between self-diagnosis behavior and individual anxiety levels. The research was conducted using a systematic literature review approach guided by the PRISMA guidelines. The results indicate that self-diagnosis behavior has a strong association with increased anxiety. Other factors include the immaturity of the prefrontal cortex in adolescents and internet addiction, which exacerbates the tendency toward self-diagnosis behavior.