Stop Googling symptoms

[Catherine S]

That's all really.

On the other hand, if all the people who post about symptoms they've asked Google about, if they were all suddenly removed there'd be hardly anybody left on the forum. Sorry about that Nic

[Mindprison]

You are correct in saying that that the internet provides easy access to medical "advice" that the average person would have no need to know.

However, having been one of these people myself in the past and to some extent even now I will say that sometimes it's not as easy as just "not doing it"

Sadly the only person qualified to deal with obsessive behaviour like this is a therapist/psychiatrist.

The problem? By the time most HA sufferers finally seek psychological help the seed is planted so far that it becomes extremely hard to break.

[Fishmanpa]

There's no harm in hoping That being said, the reality we know will be different. And THAT being said, if you're going to give in to the compulsion, add the word "anxiety" to the search

Positive thoughts

[Catherine S]

When I was at my worst with health anxiety and panic attacks it was in the 1980s and didn't have the Internet, but did have a huge medical encyclopedia. I looked up the symptoms one day, didn't like what I was reading so never did that again.

On this forum, so many people post saying they've stupidly Googled and then expect us to make them feel better by reassurance they don't have the life shortening disease they now think they have

Sorry, but i'm a little tired of hearing it's not that easy to stop googling. Actually. ..yes it is. The next time you feel you want to input your symptoms into your search engine, listen to the voice that's telling you not to. Stop making yourselves more miserable for goodness sake.

[melfish]

Ah yes, I well remember the medical reference section of bookstores and libraries ... good times, good times

[Mindprison]

I do see your point, I didn't disagree that it's a problem.

However, everything seems easier in hindsight. I look back to my first spiral 10 years ago and can rationalise it better now than I ever could then, even with a current anxiety disorder.

Regardless of whether it's self inflicted or not, I don't think it gives any of us the right to belittle their struggles and certainly not call them wimps.

[Catherine S]

Ok, i'll remove that word. Don't want to offend.

I'm not trying to dismiss people's struggles...been there myself, but really, most of the forum is made up of people googling symptoms and freaking out, its become ridiculous. And extremely sad.

[swajj]

If you want to get well you have to stop Googling. You will not get well until you do. It’s that simple really.

---------- Post added at 15:32 ---------- Previous post was at 15:22 ----------

btw Catherine you don’t need to apologise because you are spot on. I used to Google symptoms until one day my psych said I would never recover until I stopped. It was an easy choice for me, keep Googling and stay mentally unwell or give up Googling and recover. We tell people here the same thing time and time again. They say they want nothing more than to have their lives back and yet they refuse to take one critically important step...stop Googling symptoms.

---------- Post added at 15:37 ---------- Previous post was at 15:32 ----------

I’m actually glad to see the mods are starting to address the problem by moving threads to the symptoms section of the board. If you want to Google symptoms then go to the symptoms section for advice. If, however, you want to talk about how your anxiety can cause your symptoms and receive advice about what you can do to combat your anxiety then this is the place for you.

[Violet Blue]

That's right swajj. We just have to take responsibility for our own mental health, and that means being sensible with the Internet.

I'm liking the hard line the mods are taking too. I can think of one serial 'no seriously, I'm DEFINITELY ill' poster who seems to be silenced because they aren't getting so much attention now on the relevant board for their symptoms. Hopefully they are feeling better because of that, which would be wonderful.

[pulisa]

I'm glad these threads are being moved too because unfortunately getting too much attention just feeds into the problem as we know. Cutting off "supply" is essential-it's hard for the OP but that's the nature of HA and nobody on here should be receiving special attention.