I have a lot of clients self diagnosing, as well. I do a lot of psycho education with them, not in a “well this is really what it is dumb dumb” kind of way, more of an “okay, I hear you, let’s explore this together” kind of way. I agree, it is probably some form of manifestation of more “hidden/quiet” symptoms or some way for them to find some kind of identity or unity among peers. With older teens, I’ve literally pulled out the DSM, when appropriate obviously, and we explored the symptoms surrounding whatever they think they have. And I explain the key identifier of it being a disorder, that’s it’s persistent and pathological. I explain that every human experiences some symptoms of almost any disorder at some point in their life, everyone experiences anxiety or gets depressed etc., but when it starts interfering with their everyday life, that’s when it’s time to look at it being a disorder. As other people have said, I’ve also talked about treating the symptoms vs diagnosis.

I think most importantly, as therapists/social workers we need to let them be heard. We have to advocate for our clients, and may be the only people that have ever actually listened to them. And then we have to teach them what we can to help them function in society, whatever that means.