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Thread: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

  1. #1

    Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    Hello all!

    For years, I've struggled with health anxiety, whether it has been chest pains giving me heart attack fears, headaches giving me brain tumor fears, or tingling extremities producing fears of a serious neurological condition. Every time I noticed a symptom, I'd search it online. Often, this searching ended up escalating my anxiety, as I'd always be prompted with webpages suggesting I had some kind of serious condition.

    As a college student, I partnered up with some health professionals and spent the last few weeks researching this kind of internet-induced health anxiety (cyberchondria). Along with writing a paper on the topic, I've started to create a website in hopes of helping other people who deal with internet-induced health anxiety. The link to this website is on my profile page - I'd love suggestions or comments about it from people who have dealt with this condition in the past.

    Has anybody else found that their internet searches have fueled their health anxiety? If so, do you want to share your experience?
    Last edited by cyberchondriaguy; 27-01-17 at 06:22. Reason: changing location of website

  2. #2

    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    Yes. It has been the primary fuel for my health anxiety.
    I've always been somewhat of an anxious person, but the internet has kicked it up several magnitudes of severity.
    I dare say I wouldn't be suffering from health anxiety right now if i hadnt gone down the google rabbit hole.

    I'll check out your site.

  3. #3
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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    Off-loading the blame onto something else in my opinion.
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  4. #4
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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    I think nearly every one of us in this subforum have got ourself into a state over Googling symptoms. But too many times I read people on here saying "Google told me I had cancer", "I wish Google didn't exist", "I blame Google", etc.

    The thing is Google is a neutral player in all this. All it is a search engine. We type in our fears, and it spits out information based on the words we put in it. It's easier, and more tempting, and huger, and more accessible, but essentially there's no difference between Googling symptoms and holing yourself in your local library poring over medical dictionaries.

    Google never tells you have cancer. It points you to information, which you use to tell yourself. It's your anxious mind that forgets to remind you that if you find scary information from the Daily Mail or Fox News it's most likely hysterical horses***t. It's your anxious mind that searches medical information sites and sees "side pain is a symptom of cancer", but misses the bits that mention it's very rare, or there's several other symptoms you don't have, or you're the wrong demographic, or there are hundreds of much more common things that also have this symptom. It's your anxious mind that self-aggrandises you into thinking that you can spend an hour reading complex medical texts online with a layman's understanding and that makes you qualified to question medical professionals who reassure you you're OK.

    Having information at our fingertips is a blessing and a curse, and the ease at finding this information is dangerously alluring, but it is not the technology at fault, rather our anxious minds blasting away at our otherwise logical critical skills.

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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    I don't think the original post was trying to blame Google or the Internet, they were merely stating it fuels it, which it does.

    Ironically my first ever googling showed up panic attack when I typed in "waking up with racing heart", yet I still managed to develop health anxiety from a few measly nights of panic attacks.

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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    Quote Originally Posted by KeeKee View Post
    I don't think the original post was trying to blame Google or the Internet, they were merely stating it fuels it, which it does.

    Ironically my first ever googling showed up panic attack when I typed in "waking up with racing heart", yet I still managed to develop health anxiety from a few measly nights of panic attacks.
    And I think this is why I don't think it's a simple question. I've certainly read things online that have fuelled my HA and sent me into panic. But the Internet also includes a whole host of information that tells you that probability is hugely on your side that you don't have Disease X.

    When I had MS fear, I found evidence everywhere online that I had it. I was literally convinced it was a done deal. I don't have Brain Tumour fear, so when other posters on here do I can do a quick Google search and find symptoms, and facts, and statistics, that can help reassure them. If they went to the same websites they would see HEADACHE! and DIZZINESS! and SURVIVAL RATE! and not even register the logical facts I was seeing that pretty much said they didn't have anything to be worried about, just as I was looking at websites and seeing TINGLES! and BLURRY VISION! and DISABILITY! not the bits that, looking back with hindsight a clear head, pretty much ruled me out as having MS.

    Which is why I think while the Internet is a dangerous tool for we health anxious types, but the problem is the temporary disintegration of critical assessment of information by our anxiety. The internet's dangerous because it throws more information at us, and amplifies this, and helps it snowball, but I'm always wary of the level of agency some posters (and not necessary the OP here) give "Google" in their own minds. It's spitting out what we tell it to spit out with the fears we put in it.

  7. #7
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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    Exactly.

    "internet-induced health anxiety" implies that the internet is triggering the problem.

    Seek and you shall find.

    Whatever you go looking for you generally find.
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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    Yes I can also Google issues that I don't have a fear of. Yet if it's something I could possibly have 'symptoms' of, I ensure I stay well away from Google. Funny way our minds work. It's also strange how even those of us with health anxiety have different triggers and the likes. For example some people worry over the common cold, I simply cannot imagine how something people of all ages, for many, many years get on a somewhat regular basis can cause worry. However last year I had a spot on my boob and went into full blown panic over IBC.
    Many years ago I had a traumatic miscarriage (massive clots and blood pooling on the floor and fainting, sorry if tmi) and I never developed health anxiety from that, yet panic attacks, that weren't even massive panic attacks caused me to develop full blown anxiety.

  9. #9
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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    I agree with keekee. I have asked the question myself. That is, before the internet became easily accessible to everyone, including grandma and grandpa was the incidence of health anxiety significantly different? I believe it was. Before the internet people really only had access to information in hard copy. I remember when I was young my mum had a big medical book which she would look things up in. If she looked up something like liver cancer (hypothetical) there would be one or two paragraphs covering the topic. After all only a certain amount of space can be given over to covering hundreds of medical conditions lol. Now if you were to type liver cancer into Google you would get thousands of paragraphs about liver cancer. With the book you have no choice except to stop reading because of the limited information. The information you can read on the internet is almost unlimited. 15 or so years ago I had my first HA experience. I had the internet but there was a lot less information about medical conditions so I didn't bother looking things up. My next experience of HA was more than 10 years later and by then the internet had become a mine of information. And like most HA sufferers I spent hours every day Googling symptoms etc etc My psychiatrist said to me one day that he wanted me to promise him that I would stop doing it. I did promise him and I usually stick to my promises so from then on I stopped googling. I had the same psychiatrist 15 years ago and he didn't need to ask me to do that. I think your research is fascinating and I would like to read your conclusions. Good luck.

  10. #10
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    Re: Internet-induced health anxiety - Cyberchondria?

    It's not misinformation though. You choose to interpret it how you want.

    You search and then panic at the remot/unlikely worst case scenarios.

    By the way, I do have HA.

    I bash my head, my brain says blod clot. I spent MONTHS in 2014 worrying about lymphoma. I spent a good week or two last year worrying about Leukemia.

    I don't have it so much anymore.

    The thoughts start with you. The panic starts with you. The googling starts with you. The solution starts with you. Getting better starts with you.

    You see where I am going....
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