Damn you Google!

[Decius]

Gah! I can't seem to stop googling my symptoms. It's frustrating, I actually feel better while I am google what I think to be wrong with me. I mean I don't actually feel better, while I am googling I am way stressed out, but it's gotten to the point where I almost feel more comfortable being stressed out than when I have nothing to worry about... I fear I am getting used to this state of constantly being stressed out, so that when I have nothing to worry about, I'll start worrying about that. I think this is the genesis of my health anxiety, I've been like this on and off for the past few months. Granted a lot has happened in the past couple of months and it is getting better, but I am so tired of being stressed out but I can't seem to stop. Has anyone else been in my shoes? How to do stop googling? Or how can you switch off your brain and stop worrying??? Thanks.

[Kev1979]

Google makes you feel rubbish because all you seem to find is the bad stuff and never what it probably is!

I told myself never to visit Dr Google again but i did the other week and made myself bad again!!! :(

[Ella_Jayne]

Google is EVIL well when it comes to health anxiety sufferers. It actually technically started my HA by telling me about people that die suddenly... Which threw me into panic mode, but Google only tells you certain stuff, and usually it's dramatic. It does console me sometimes, but most of the time it makes me feel worse. Try and avoid as much as you can.

[KK77]

Well I wouldn't say that Google is all doom, gloom and terminal illness! It's just that we're programmed to see all the negative stuff and focus on that. We suddenly develop new symptoms to fit in with the terrible illness, even though a doctor would probably rule out and exclude most of them. To the untrained and anxious mind, yes, Google is probably fatal but I think that it's also a case of the bad carpenter blaming his tools!

I agree that there is a lot of scaremongering on there but there is also a wealth of valuable facts/information too. It's just how your mind reads it I guess.

[Zee]

I used to Google and I got to the stage where looking at the screen and reading various symptoms I could feel my tum flipping and all my muscles getting tense so I made a decision..DONT GOOGLE..

[Faethra]

I've learned to take Google with a grain of salt.

Today I was feeling really well, and while looking up help for a game I'm playing I came across COPD. And right now I have a cold. Guess what my new anxiety is? However, I know not to trust everything I read, so when I google health concerns, I will only read results from sites like WebMD and the Mayo Clinic. Though... both did say that many people with COPD don't even have symptoms or have no idea they're suffering. Dx However, I don't smoke or drink alcohol, but everyone else I know does, so I begin to worry about second-hand. And I do work with chemicals from time-to-time. I just have to remind myself that my health checks have always come out well.

Though, this is the second time in a year I have developed a mysterious deep cough. D: