Pre-Fab Psychological Diagnoses: Clinicians Confront a New Trend

KREMS, Austria - Jan. 27, 2026 - PRLog -- More and more young adults seek psychological assessment with a diagnosis already in mind – or even one they have assigned to themselves. A new mixed-methods study with 93 clinical psychologists shows that self-diagnosed and "desired" psychiatric labels – often ADHD or autism – are now far more common than just a few years ago. According to the clinicians, this is seen particularly among young women with higher education and intensive social media use, some of whom react to unexpected results by "diagnosis shopping". Conducted under the lead of Karl Landsteiner University (KL Krems), the study shows how these dynamics are changing routine diagnostic encounters and why communication in mental health care needs to adapt.

Today, social media and streaming platforms are key sources of (mis)information about mental health, with many young people first encountering diagnostic terms on TikTok, Instagram or TV series. For some, identifying with a diagnosis online is a first step towards seeking help; for others, labels become part of how they define themselves and present their lives to peers. Until now, little was known about how clinicians view these trends or how they affect day-to-day assessment work. To address this, the Research Centre Transitional Psychiatry at KL Krems surveyed licensed clinical psychologists across Austria about their experiences with self- and desired diagnoses among emerging adults.

Original publication

Increasing self- and desired psychiatric diagnoses among emerging adults: Mixed-methods insights from clinical psychologists, M. Neumann: V. Steiner-Hofbauer: M. Aigner: A. Höflich: A. Holzinger & G. Mittmann, Int J Clin Health Psychol (2026) 26:100661, doi:10.1016/j.ijchp.2025.100661. https://kris.kl.ac.at/en/publications/increasing-self-and-desired-psychiatric-diagnoses-among-emerging-/

More on KL Krems research: https://www.kl.ac.at/en/research/research-blog