always worst case scenario...

[sunshine27]

I am ashamed to admit that I can't stop "Googling". It's like if I start to feel good my mind thinks oh no...we can't have that.. and I start doing self checks on my body and of course I immediately find "something"..and then I Google...and of course I diagnose myself with the worst possible thing, not the one that makes most sense. I really hate this and I know I'm doing it to myself..but I feel stuck in a vicious cycle. Been to doctor and now dentist who don't seem concerned with my findings...ugh, what is wrong with me???

[Stickbait]

I was the same, googling everything! But since I found this website and forum 2 weeks ago I stopped. I have been on this site a lot though (maybe just swapped one obsession for another). Reading the Dr Google post helped me a lot to stop.

[sunshine27]

I'm really going to try and stop, I have to for my sanity.I mean it doesn't matter what you type in, they say it's cancer, HIV, diabetes.. nothing that can ever be cured it seems..it's all so overwhelming. I look at my family and friends and think why me? Why am I the only one that is not normal!!!!

[HalfJack]

It's a little like being an addict in some ways, you just have to not do it. You can't change that you want to. You just have to physically not do it.
When you feel yourself making excuses or saying "I'll just look up one thing" or "it won't hurt to look up something for a friend" remind yourself that it's a slippery slope.
Replace it with a positive coping method that you can do instead. The difference between this and being an addict is the longer you don't do it the easier it gets. I used to google everything, now I don't even want to!

Falling off the wagon isn't failure, just keep trying and you'll get there :hugs:

[sunshine27]

Thank you, I will try anything to stop. I'm starting a panic attack as I type this..getting flushed and zeroing in on my body/symptoms.. it's just too much to handle sometimes..thank you again..I vow to not Google the rest of the night..small steps right???

[Serenity1990]

Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry, Google, symptoms, worry...

That's the cycle that needs to be broken.

You can't just stop worrying. Obviously you can't stop the symptoms. However googling is a choice you make...

[Carnation]

What I do is look up symptoms on here in the search threads. They make better sense and we have a lot in common here. Don't Google, you know it's bad for you.

[sunshine27]

Thank you all, I'm trying!!

[Leslie735]

I'm the same way. I go through times where I'm pretty good about it but then others (like right now) I'm really bad about it. My fears is not so much the serious stuff like cancer, diabetes etc. it's the things that are incurable, non life threatening and extremely uncomfortable to live with and doesn't have any/or hardly any treatment proven to do anything. Right now I'm going through a total anxiety over something like that. I randomly was googling the other day about something else and ran across a condition that fits that criteria and I've been in fear since. It's terrible! I need to stop googling!!!! :scared15:

[Ruizu]

I don't think anyone can help themselves when it comes to their health worries. I suppose the closest thing to a quick answer to your symptoms is Google. I always find results with big scary names! But most of the time I'm too scared to go to the doctors, shamefully so.

[Dolphin8808]

My mind always goes to worse case scenario and as soon as we google, that is ALL that pops up. I have myself so convinced I have multiple things going on. Then I think how lucky I have been before that I didn't have these major illnesses, whose to say that my luck will run out and I will have something else go wrong. UGH. OVER IT!