Use a distraction. Another technique to keep you from self-diagnosing is distraction. When you feel like doing some Googling distract yourself by doing something else — going for a run, calling up a friend, watching some funny videos, whatever will get you out of your head.
It is a form of hypochondria. Cyberchondria affects more people now that the internet is accessible to so many. People who suffer from cyberchondria diagnose themselves based on online searches. Their anxiety causes them to Google symptoms.
While being a little concerned when WebMD tells you that your runny nose is the worst case scenario is a fairly universal experience, it's the complete inability to stop clicking, searching, and panicking that signals you might be experiencing health anxiety, too.
One of the biggest reasons you as a patient should never google your symptoms is that diseases are incredibly complex. Some symptoms can overlap many different diagnoses, all of which can range in severity.
You might utilize relaxation skills, deep breathing, mindfulness practice, being in nature, or other soothing activities that ground you back in the present moment. These are tools that can help you to refocus attention when thoughts about the body are all-consuming.
Hypochondria is a type of anxiety disorder. It is also known as health anxiety, or illness anxiety disorder, or hypochondriasis. It is normal for people to worry about their health now and again. But people who experience hypochondria get very worried that they are seriously ill, or are about to become seriously ill.
Because hypochondria can activate the “fight or flight” system of the body, having excessive worries about your health can cause some physical symptoms. Some common symptoms of anxiety that hypochondria can trigger include: Stomachaches and conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) Dizziness.
Googling Symptoms Causes Health Anxiety
These extreme conclusions can cause serious anxiety, especially for people who are already afraid of health problems. This anxiety happens so frequently today, there's a name for it—cyberchondria.
While many people may try to brush off their anxiety, ignoring your anxiety can become dangerous. The physical symptoms that accompany anxiety can cause damage to your body and disrupt your life. If your anxiety is persistent, it is best to speak to a medical professional.
Google” Can Fuel Anxiety. 'Dr. Google' does not actually have a medical degree which can increase your chances of misdiagnosis or mistaking something major for something minor. Your attempts to self-diagnose to calm you down can have the opposite effect and can cause you to panic and overthink everything.
Googling is a common compulsion in many forms of OCD and is usually one of the first compulsions I work with my clients to reduce.
People with hypochondriasis are often preoccupied or even consumed with bodily symptoms that can be quite vague, like “my heart is tired," or very specific, such as “my throat is always sore." People with OCD are generally less preoccupied with physical sensations.
Only a trained mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist, can diagnose a mental health disorder like social anxiety. While you cannot self-diagnose, you can take steps to figure out if your symptoms are the result of normal shyness or if they could be something more.
Healthcare experts don't know why some people develop illness anxiety disorder. You may be more prone to illness anxiety disorder if you have a family history of: Childhood trauma, such as child abuse or neglect. Extreme stress.
Some other characteristic signs of illness anxiety, according to Harvard Medical School, are constantly googling your symptoms, feeling overwhelmingly anxious even if you have no or minimal symptoms, continuing to feel nervous even after being reassured of your health by a doctor, and noticing that your anxiety about ...
These are just a few examples of how our mental state can impact our physical health. But it's not just temporary symptoms that our brains can cause. Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression can lead to long-term health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and weakened immune systems.
You may be more likely to have health anxiety if you had parents who worried too much about their own health or your health. Past experience. You may have had experience with serious illness in childhood, so physical sensations may be frightening to you.
Some of the causes include: Disturbance in perception such that normal sensations are magnified. Having learned apparent benefits of being sick, such as receiving attention. Hypochondriasis may occur in an individual who had a childhood illness or had a sibling with a childhood illness.
A hypochondriac is someone who lives with the fear that they have a serious, but undiagnosed medical condition, even though diagnostic tests show there is nothing wrong with them. Hypochondriacs experience extreme anxiety from the bodily responses most people take for granted.
Antidepressants are most commonly prescribed medications for illness anxiety disorder. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are typically the first-choice antidepressants. SSRIs include medications like: Fluoxetine (Prozac)
The most effective treatment for illness anxiety is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), specifically, Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP). In our experience, CBT and ERP for illness anxiety are more effective when combined with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).