Cyberchondria is a real thing, but do yourself a favor
and maybe don't Google it.
Hey, guys, this is Annie from D News.
All of us have done it-- you're feeling under the weather
and turn to good old doctor internet
to figure out what ails you.
Say you have an itch in your throat, slight fatigue.
And now that I think about it, my foot kind of hurts, too.
And before you know it, oh, god, I knew it.
I have fibromyalgia.
No, it's probably cancer.
It's all over.
Searching for symptoms online is extremely common, so
common that Google actually said this year
they can generate accurate stats on flu outbreaks in the US
based on just search queries.
But that sense of anxiety you get
from trying to diagnose your mystery illness on Google, Web
M.D. or god forbid, Yahoo Answers,
there's a name for that-- cyberchondria, a term that's
actually been around for a while.
Back in 2001, the BBC also called the internet printout
syndrome.
And the term has been used in scientific journals
as far back as 2003.
But according to a new study in the journal Cyber Psychology,
cyberchondria can have tangible negative effects.
According to the authors at Baylor University,
cyberchondria is a vicious cycle that
gets worse the longer you spend seeking out answers.
It could snowball into additional fears
about doctor visits, medical costs, job loss,
that rabbit-hole of stress that can arise from health concerns.
And people who are prone to anxiety
can be highly susceptible to this vicious cycle.
Using anxiety measures, the researchers
found that, kind of unsurprisingly, people
who don't tolerate uncertainty well or worry
a lot about the future are the most likely to
spiral into cyberchondria, all of which
is compounded by the fact that there's
a ton of misinformation online.
In another study published in the Journal of Pediatrics,
researchers looked at search terms surrounding sudden infant
death syndrome, finding that of 1,300 websites analyzed,
only 43.5% contained information in line
with the recommendations from the American Academy
of Pediatrics.
So when in doubt, seek out a real doctor,
and be wary of the cyberchondira cycle.
Just don't worry about it too much.
Hey, I see you've Googling.
Stop that.
It's not helping.
Step away from the search engine.
So do you find yourself freaking out over medical symptoms
online?
Tell us your story in the comments
or on Twitter and Facebook at D News.