Cyberchondria – Don’t Google Your Symptoms
It’s a common thing to google your symptoms to try to find out the reason for your symptoms, however, searching for your symptoms can lead into an obsession called Cyberchondria.
Because anyone can post content online, your search results may not be accurate. Sources you find online might not be published by a medical professional with experience or even credentials to give advice on the symptoms.
Cyberchondria is a vicious cycle. The more you search online for your symptoms, the more aware you become about your symptoms. Because you’re monitoring your symptoms, you can become anxious and manifest exaggerated symptoms.
Your exaggerated symptoms might make you search the internet more, and make your symptoms even more exaggerated. The cycle will continue to escalate until you’ve come to the panicked conclusion that you have cancer or that you’re probably dying.
My advice is to stop googling for your symptoms and look for solutions instead. Instead of searching for symptoms that could have a number of causes, search for the solution to the symptom. For example, don’t search “coughing causes”, search, “how to relieve a cough.”
Another thing is to not to share your symptoms that you’re concerned about on social media, message boards, or forums. The majority of the people will not be medical professionals and will be just speculating on what could be the cause of your symptoms. They might suggest that you have a terrible illness, or misdiagnose you which could cause you additional anxiety.
If you are worried about your health and the symptoms that you have, try seeing a medical professional first. They’ll be able to tell you if your health is normal, and if your symptoms are something to worry about or not.
Educate yourself on your health, but consult yourself by reputable medical professionals rather than self-diagnosing your symptoms.
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Tags: advice • symptoms • thoughts
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5 Comments
My coworkers and I do this!! I guess we need to stop! Love this blog about anxiety. It’s something I deal with daily xox
Elizabeth | fromskinny2strong.com
Love this post! I must admit that I have definitely googled my symptoms. In fact I was obsessed with googling and going into forums when I was going though IVF. Sometime people are just looking for answers and for comfort but I do understand that each case is different. I try not to google symptoms anymore. Great post!
When I want reliable health info I’ll ask a librarian for books or websites. I tend to stick to the .gov sies.
This is such good advice. Google too much and all of a sudden you, your dog, and everyone you’ve ever met has cancer. If you can’t help yourself, it’s really really important to check sources. If you can’t verify it’s a trusted medical source, move on!
So true, don’t always believe the internet… Although I am a huge google person.. But totally know better then to believe everything lol thanks for sharing
XO-Lisa
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