Truth be told, self medication can really come in handy (only when you have the correct knowledge of the medication to administer) especially when the medical issue isn't a serious one and the right drug is just somewhere around the corner. It could also be very useful during emergency; knowing the right drug to give to a patience to suppress pain or amount of blood coming out before getting to a hospital.
Not so proud to say this but, self medication is not a new thing in my part of the world. It's either you grow up in it or around people who do it or both. The two most common drugs in Nigeria are Paracetamol and Panadol -- they are used to cure or relieve body stress and headache. These two drugs will never close down with the way Nigerians use this drug, paracetamol is the answer to any slight headache or body pain while Panadol is the solution to any serious headache and body pain. They are what comes to mind first at any slight feeling of the mentioned.
Thinking about it, what made some certain people get used to these drugs, looking like they ain't gonna leave or forget them anytime soon is because of how they advertised these drugs on Tv many years back. It is one of the most popular TV and radio advertisement that people around the age of 18+ and above can chorus when it is played. The marketing was good and the main point was that these drugs cure headache and body pain. Hence, the self medication.
This might seem or sound okay but it is not. For instance, some illness or disease start with symptoms like headache or body pain for the first few hours or day before manifesting totally. An average person with the habit of using common drugs that can cure headache or body pain uses it and probably keep on using it becauee he/she believes it's just a matter of time and few dosage before the healing comes, unfortunately, the situation could worsen because it initially wasn't a headache or body pain but one of the symptoms of an illness.
Another self medication I grew up knowing is herbal mixture. There are local industries that produces readily made herbs in either transparent or black bottles. I've used some that worked efficiently and did a great job but countless times, I see people who depend solely on these type of drugs, once they feel sick they juat walk up to a shop that sells and ask for one that can cure the symptoms they are feeling or seeing. The bad thing about this is that they believe it will always work once they've tried it and it did work. They even go as far as recommending it to others to use.
What if there was more to that symptoms, what if that wasn't the end, what if the self medication only suppressed the illness for a while till it will show up again and as expected, more intense.
I have never been a victim of self-medication gone wrong, maybe becaue I don't do it often. But there are cases I heard whereby a certain person did self medication and ended up worse either because the drugs only suppressed the sickness and it came back worse or the drug used entirely contributed negatively to the sickness; and in few stories some died because of such act. It is safer to visit a doctor than to risk one's life, there might be no second chance.