History YMMV / MysteryDiagnosis

** Out of all the conditions featured, the rare genetic disorder of metabolism Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome is especially cruel, and frightening. Affected sufferers suffer from chronic muscle weakness, developmental delays... and an overwhelming compulsion ''to harm themselves'', initially through biting, but then by beating oneself to the point of bleeding violently and wavering in and out of consciousness. The child afflicted with the condition in the episode where it is featured goes to the point of ''biting his own lower lip clean off his face''. Even after the vast majority of his deciduous teeth were extracted, the child still had such a compulsion to harm himself that he began repeatedly smashing his head into any hard surface he could find.

** Out of all the conditions featured, the rare genetic disorder Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome is especially cruel, and frightening. Affected sufferers suffer from chronic muscle weakness, developmental delays... and an overwhelming compulsion ''to harm themselves'', initially through biting, but then by beating oneself to the point of bleeding violently and wavering in and out of consciousness. The child afflicted with the condition in the episode where it is featured goes to the point of ''biting his own lower lip clean off his face''.

** Out of all the conditions featured, the rare genetic disorder Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome is especially cruel, and frightening. Affected sufferers suffer from chronic muscle weakness, developmental delays... and an overwhelming compulsion ''to harm themselves'', initially through biting, but then by beating oneself to the point of bleeding violently and wavering in and out of consciousness.

** The entire premise of some of the episodes, more specifically the episodes where the illness in question have no prerequisite.

** The case of the woman with [=FOP=] [[spoiler: and died before the episode premiered]].

* WhatAnIdiot: You could say that some of the doctors are this because they don't seem to recognize trademark symptoms of fairly common diseases. One example is the case of Maryann Piazza, whose cough and pneumonia-like symptoms lingered for months. When she turned out to have [[spoiler: lymphoma]], her doctor seemed shocked that no one caught it earlier.
** Also happened to toddler Tyler Berchielli. His [[spoiler: Hischsprung's Disease]] is a rare malady, but: '''You'd Expect''' his local doctors to catch on when medication and twelve enemas didn't help Tyler's intestinal blockage. '''Instead''', the doctor continues to insist on enemas, with the poor kid screaming while nurses held him down.
** While Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva is a rare disease, the doctors treating a young girl with the condition decide from a few physical tests that the child was suffering from severe neurofibromatosis of the muscles instead. They neglected to do any X-Rays (as the growth in her arm was showing signs of the condition taking hold that could have been seen on an X-Ray), and opted to chop her arm off instead. It was only when they noticed bone starting to overrun the surgical site that made them realise what the girl was truly suffering from.
** Kirsten Larson's doctors constantly blamed her illness on chubbiness and told her to lose weight and exercise. Even after she tried to follow orders, her symptoms of heart palpitations and shortness of breath only worsened, to the point that a simple walk during school [[spoiler: made her pass out.]] Her principal, who was also an EMT, was sent to treat her. '''You'd Then Expect''' the principal to realize that, no, this kid is not having problems because she's chubby. '''Instead'' he blames her symptoms on allergies. Again, '''this is an EMT we're talking about'''. Doctors continue to blame Kirsten's weight for her symptoms until she [[spoiler: pretty much nearly dies.]]

* TearJerker: YMMV on whether or not you actually cry watching this show, but there are many tearful moments in-universe, particularly from the relatives of patients. If a child is sick, expect major TearJerker potential. A late episode even had a doctor choking up on camera.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Lord, YES, at least in the U.S. Episodes are in different time slots, in different orders, at least once every month. They can be shown in marathon blocks, once a week, not for months at a time...screwed royally.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: A mild and perhaps unintentional example. Patients and their families are usually shown sitting in front of red or yellow backgrounds (usually red for patients, yellow for family). Doctors are always shown with blue backgrounds.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Mystery Diagnosis is aired on the Discovery Fit and Health Channel, which is also home to Monsters Inside Me. Like MD, the stories featured on that show usually involve someone falling prey to symptoms which cannot be pinpointed. Unlike MD, the fates of these contributors can be pretty grim. In fact, several sufferers actually [[spoiler: died from the parasite they contracted]]. To make it even worse, [[spoiler: those victims are often children.]]
** The channel is also home to Mystery ER, which has the exact same premise as Mystery Diagnosis, except that everything tends to be solved in the ER. Some episodes are DarkerAndEdgier than MD, including one where a child [[spoiler: wasn't traditionally ill; his mom was committing Munchausen by Proxy.]]
** The channel (now Discovery Life) has become home to ''Diagnose Me.'') This show could be considered a DarkerAndEdgier version of ''Mystery Diagnosis'' because the narration is largely replaced with reenactments of the actual symptoms and doctor's appointments, some of which can get pretty graphic. Some of the diseases featured are highly graphic as well, including a disease that causes fingernails to grow from the scalp, and one that causes the hormone liptin to cease functioning. This results in a heavily distended stomach, starving hunger, alarming thinness, and huge skin welts.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Quite a bit of it, mostly due to the change of narrators from David Guion to David Scott. Guion's voice is softer and more modulated, but he has some pronunciation issues. In one episode, he drops the "p" in "symptom" and very nearly drops the "m" when talking about a woman named Kim.
** The show also originally had three "medical mysteries" of about twenty minutes each. By about the second season, this was dropped in favor of two half-hour stories.
** In the earliest episodes, narration was exclusively in past tense ("Kathy took Isaac to the pediatrician" rather than "Kathy takes...") From about season two on, narration was in present tense except in cases where past tense was absolutely needed.
** Initially, more common diseases were featured, such as Pulmonary Hypotension, Trigeminal Neuralgia and Emphysema. Eventually, these episodes were phased out in favour of the more rare and mysterious conditions.

* The channel (now Discovery Life) has become home to ''Diagnose Me.'') This show could be considered a DarkerAndEdgier version of ''Mystery Diagnosis'' because the narration is largely replaced with reenactments of the actual symptoms and doctor's appointments, some of which can get pretty graphic. Some of the diseases featured are highly graphic as well, including a disease that causes fingernails to grow from the scalp, and one that causes the hormone liptin to cease functioning. This results in a heavily distended stomach, starving hunger, alarming thinness, and huge skin welts.

UnfortunateImplications: This show carries the Unfortunate Implication that if you have a medical need, your doctor will not be able to find out what is wrong or will not believe you, and that the medical system is quite useless. A bit of TruthInTelevision, but not always.
** A large number of women featured are told that their diseases are all in their heads or stress-related, especially if symptoms are non-specific, like pain. Young girls are accused of being overly dramatic and wanting attention, to the point that parents sometimes withhold pain meds or other treatment. Men and boys, even those with non-specific symptoms, are never told this.

* NightmareFuel: If you're skittish about doctors and/or medical procedures, the entire show is this.

** The show also originally had three "medical mysteries" of about twenty minutes each. By about the second season, this was dropped in favor of two half-hour stories.

UnfortunateImplications: This show carries the Unfortunate Implication that if you have a medical need, your doctor will not be able to find out what is wrong or will not believe you, and that the medical system is quite useless. A bit of TruthinTelevision, but not always.

Unfortunate Implications: This show carries the Unfortunate Implication that if you have a medical need, your doctor will not be able to find out what is wrong or will not believe you, and that the medical system is quite useless. A bit of TruthinTelevision, but not always.

Papa Wolf: The counterparts to the Mama Bears, though this happens less than with moms.