How to Overcome Being Cyberchondriac?

We must all have experienced the features of being a cyberchondriac every once in a while: you wake up with a headache, you feel dizzy and dehydrated, but after googling your symptoms you’re inclined to think you have brain cancer instead of crediting your unwell to the company cocktail hour the day before. As nowadays the diagnosis seems to be only a click away, the danger of becoming constantly anxious about diseases got a lot closer. Here’s how you can overcome being a cyberchondriac. Illness anxiety is real What is the common denominator of Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, and Howard Huges? No, it’s not the opening line of a joke, these three men do have a thing in common: they were hypochondriacs. Darwin was said to use “water cures” for his imagined illnesses, Warhol was terrified of hospitals and obsessed with his physical wellbeing, while the American aviator-billionaire, Huges, was so afraid of germs that he picked up almost everything with a tissue. However, the condition could affect healthcare professionals, too. At least for the time they are medical students. When Dr. Mesko studied pathology, he was convinced that he has deadly diseases. It’s a downward spiral. The more you know about something, the more you think about it, and no matter how minor a symptom you experience, you might go into panic mode. The prevalence of hypochondriasis also shows in the statistics. Experts say that the phenomenon causes $20 billion in unnecessary medical examinations an...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Empowered Patients Social media in Healthcare cyberchondria cyberchondriac diagnosis digital health google Health 2.0 health app hypochondria online diagnosis technology Source Type: blogs