Things to keep in mind when Googling

[christomcneil]

Thanks for the post - it was helpful, especially the statistics and the comment about how bad our own track record in self diagnosis often is!

I was juts going to add that I've found a good website blocker for firefox called leechblock.

It lets you block site names with wildcards (e.g. *cancer*, *pubmed*) and also block the option to bypass the blocker!

It also lets you lockdown your firefox for a certain duration (e.g. no Google or Bing for 1h) in an emergency.

I'm terrible at looking at health sites, and even worse scientific papers about cancer. It's like picking a scab for me so I've installed these to try and bolster my pathetic will power.

[Rybi87]

I know a lot of time passed since you wrote this, but OP, seriously, you're my hero. You have no idea how much this little gem of common sense helped me.

[whynow]

Wish I read your post a month ago. I have been googling lunch cancer, because of the tightness in my chest (and amoker), ovarian cancer, mold on my bread implant, esophagus cancer....I have it all but anxiety :-) Glad to get a reality check. Thank you.

[fenderr0xx]

I am glad i am not the only one doing this

[w2bhpy]

I'm so glad I read this! I call myself the Queen of Google. The minute something bothers me I google it and when I see syptoms that are not serious I'm fine. The minute I see cancer or anyting else I freak and it makes me worse. Thank you for posting this! I'm gonna think twice about Googling things like that! 

[Carryon]

I'm so glad I read this! I call myself the Queen of Google. The minute something bothers me I google it and when I see syptoms that are not serious I'm fine. The minute I see cancer or anyting else I freak and it makes me worse. Thank you for posting this! I'm gonna think twice about Googling things like that! 

Never self diagnose, least of all based on internet research. Your knowledge threshold should start with what you doctor tells you.

[Pokey]

Great post, thank you.

It's so easy to forget these things.

Again, thank you.  :)

[MusicSoothes]

Thank you to all who commented, this is extraordinarilly helpful and comforting to know I'm not alone.  Let's let sanity prevail. 

[Pokey]

Why oh why didn't I read this ten minutes ago?
 


I just decided I have lymphoma and crohns disease.

[jerri2011]

thank you for this!! really helped put some of my HAs in check :)  Bravo!

[Michigander84]

I couldn't agree with you anymore. Everyone is too unique to get a proper analysis of their condition from a website or forum. Well laid out too.

[Ialwaysworry]

Very helpful post. I would just like to add (hopefully no one else has)...please save yourself some serious anxiety by avoiding that other search engine site's "Answers" as well. I've made this mistake once or twice and I could not believe some of the responses that came back. Completely incomprehensible, hazardous to health, etc. Just not a very good place to ask questions related to anything health wise, especially if you suffer from any anxiety.

[Kirstie68]

This is such a great thread.  I have spent way too many hours googling my symptoms, when I could have been spending that time doing something more productive and healthy.  Darn anxiety 

[WarwithAnxiety]

Internet searching makes Anxiety worse. My Doctor made a great opinion of it as well(but I'll admit, I still look up stuff and i'm trying to put an end to it), I think it went like this "If everyone could diagnose themselves by using the Internet, then why would we need real Doctors?" 

[raemarisa]

You must have been reading my mind. I am a long time sufferer of hypochondria. It unfortunatley is  hereditary and has been passed down. I constantly google every possible ailment that I have, or have created in my own mind. I also have a complete medical encyclopedia as an alternate reference. Not to mention the fact that my father is a Urologist, and both my mother and stepfather are RN's.. Currently I think I have colon cancer after a week and a half bout of diarrhea and loose stool. No other symptoms, no fever, no blood, no prolong stomach pains,etc.  I also am under a lot of stress and anxiety, which as my mother so lovingly told me-that's why you are going through it..She has no sympathy at all due to my chronic need for reassurance that I am not going to die, and just because google thinks I may have cancer, tumors, parasites, ulcers, lesions, spores, etc doesn't mean I have to believe it. I also suffer from acid reflux, and inherited a Hiatal Hernia..So, fixating only increased acid production in my stomach,and cramping in my intestines..After a bout of google-itis, I attempt to not go on any medical sites for awhile, and focus on correcting the issue..

[SS91]

Great post,

I find it funny that almost EVERY symptom if you dig long enough could be traced to ALS/MS, AIDS, Connective Tissue Disorders, Cancers etc...

Eventually we will find where our symptom connects with our anchor fear (The disorder we fear the most), and then we will go nuts and connect those with all the other times we felt we have the disorder and then it's a freak out.  We then think I MUST be right this time, surely we are not.

I agree quitting googling is the number one thing, even if we think it's just for the fun - or I won't be bothered by it.

[Laney11]

Great thread, I myself am guilty of googling any new medication the doctor prescribes.

[nikol373]

This post honestly just changed my life. Thank You. I am now ready to start my journey towards recovering from Health Anxiety. 

[MrShaky]

This is a great thread. I am guilty of Googling health issues. I can find reassurance on one site and then create a nuclear anxiety event reading another.

My wife said she is going to throw my computer out the window as I always link a symptom to a serious disease like cancer.

Today is hopefully my last day of using google for health related searches.

[rayandrae]

I am a notorious googler and it does not agree with one's mental state at 3am, which is generally when i google. I have for the most part sworn off of google, as it is easy to get overwhelmed. I actually even avoid the health articles and health food stores now, as I prefer to live with peace. If it is something big ... it'll show up.

Good encouragement!

[texy_bunz]

I was also a bad googler Ray and boy have I learned my lesson. If I am seriously concerned about something that is going on, I am just going to go to the doctor instead of trying to self diagnose. But while doing my googling, I have also realized that anxiety can cause a lot of havoc on your body and mind.

[TurnTheSunDown]

Great advice!  I need to staple this post to my forehead or something.  Better yet, I should staple it to my computer.  I have been guilty of googling every symptom I ever get, and of course I never stop googling until, inevitably, I find the one thing that would be the worst possible outcome of the symptom.  I could google "hangnail" and wind up giving myself a panic attack! "Oh no, it's finger cancer!  It's probably already spread to my arm!  They'll have to chop my arm off  In surgery, they'll chop the wrong arm off, I just know it!  And then they'll mix up the meds in the hospital and put me into a coma!"  Yeah, maybe googling symptoms isn't the greatest idea after all!   

[qsomeone]

Perfect advice! I always "feel" what I've read on google. I always think i have metastatic cancer, because no matter what symptom ya google, the C word is always a possibility!

[Mr SelfDestruct]

Terrific post.

My anxiety kicked into gear in the days when "googling" something meant...well, it didn't mean anything, I don't think, except maybe to math geeks. But I digress. Anyway, at that time, I happened to be in college taking one of the worst - scratch that -  the ABSOLUTE WORST course an anxiety sufferer could take:

Psychology

And that course's text wreaked untold havoc on my psyche that entire semester and beyond, as I'd self-diagnosed myself with every DSM-III ailment available. Maybe even made up one or two of my own.

Sadly, years later, I still haven't learned from past mistakes, now allowing the WebMD's and MayoClinic's of the Internets to keep me more unhinged than Stephen King's latest tome.

If I had encountered a piece of writing as well-thought out as the OP, I might've spared myself some needless months and years of fret and sweat.

[xando]

I've read this post many times before and it's very helpful.  Unfortunately, tonight I did exactly what I shouldn't and now I'm completely FREAKING!