We all know it's no good for us. We all know it increases our anxiety. We all know it fuels our fears.... but time after time.... we all type our common ailments into Google and find an abundance of "Worst Case Scenarios".
I am as big a culprit as any. Right now I have a swollen lingual tonsil on the side of my tongue... and oral thrush... and even though the swollen lingual tonsil is probably due to thrush, a swollen lingual tonsil without the signs of thrush (according to Google) can also be the early sign of cancer. So what do I choose to believe? the innocent thrush? or Cancer? .... why Cancer of course.
So now, knowing I cannot resist the urge to Google my symptoms, I have come up with a few guidelines that helped me, and may help some of you.
Bearing in mind, GP's aren't always good at treating the cause, just treating the symptoms, it can be advisable to brush up on your health knowledge. But understanding health conditions mean more than just seeing "Thrush can be an early indication of AIDS" and presuming because you have thrush, it therefore must be AIDS. So here are my basic guidelines for those with "Cyberchondria" who give in to the need to Google in times of need of reassurance:
1) If you really MUST look for likely causes for your symptoms, make sure you research them thoroughly. Do not trust one site but look at many and compare. Consider how many of the ailments/symptoms you ACTUALLY suffer from and try not to "make the symptoms fit".
2) Understand "normal" anatomy. If you have an unusual lump that you never noticed before.... maybe its just that.... it was always there, you just didnt notice it. Maybe, like those who investigate the back of their tongue for the first time with a torch (that'll be me), they notice huge bumps on the back of it.... and think... oh my god I have tumours... whereas they are in fact taste buds, youve just never looked so far back before. Google the anatomy of the part of the body you are concerned about, and many times you will find out that you just didnt realise some lumps in your bust can be infected milk ducks and not cancer.
3) To keep your paranoia under control, try Googling one of your symptoms with something you KNOW you dont have. Like say "Dandruff" and "AIDS". Yes it sounds silly, but Google will always find a connection. (HAHA I just tried that myself, and it does actually come up with a connection... even though I know I do not have AIDS as Ive been tested). This will help you realise that most symptoms are common among many varied diseases and health concerns, and are therefore totally unreliable.
4) Probably the greatest help I have found. When you do a Google search, there is a way of eliminating most of the results containing your particular anxiety. It will not remove all of them, but you are more likely to find an answer less likely to fuel your anxiety. Most of you probably already know this, but I will tell you anyway just to make sure.
Lets say for example, your main Health Anxiety concern is Cancer. This is my main concern, so I speak from experience. If i type into Google "Lump in breast", as Im sure you can imagine, you will find pages and pages regarding cancer. And so you freak. Its a possible cause, but admittedly not a definite answer.... but its enough to mess you up completely. Of course there are many other reasons, that are harmless, like cysts and mastitis, which are also shown when you do the search, but due to the fact Cancer is so widely talked about, you dont notice the common disorders... the ones that are more likely. So how do we get around this? ok..... it all comes down to the minus (-) symbol. If I do the same search on Google, and include the thing I'm most afraid of.... but put a minus symbol directly in front of it, eg "Lump in breast -cancer", it will do a normal search but filter out the ones that mention cancer, and show you just the ones that dont make a connection with cancer. Occasionally one or two might slip through but not as often as a straight forward search. So try it. Instead of searching "Palpitations" and going through numerous sites that say you are going to have a heart attack, type in "palpitations -heart" and look at the non heart related reasons... like anxiety.
This may not work for you, but it might. And its only suggested for those who cannot resist the need to Google, not for the ones who never thought of it before and want to give it a try. That would only make things worse.
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