Words on the web: Cyberchondriac (sy.bur.KAWN.dree.ak)

More often than not, patients who have self-diagnosed themselves by reviewing lists of diseases on a website will allow worry to exaggerate the degree of one symptom or another. As well, lacking the experience of a medical professional who has most likely diagnosed and treated many common diseases, cyberchondriacs will often frustrate emergency room staff by insisting on immediate care for illnesses which they have no chance of having.

More often than not, patients who have self-diagnosed themselves by reviewing lists of diseases on a website will allow worry to exaggerate the degree of one symptom or another. As well, lacking the experience of a medical professional who has most likely diagnosed and treated many common diseases, cyberchondriacs will often frustrate emergency room staff by insisting on immediate care for illnesses which they have no chance of having.

In many cases, the emergency room practitioner will know that there is no chance of the patient having a particular illness due to a key sign of the illness not being present. In fact, for most cases, the patient is wrong, and the doctor – the expert – is correct. So why do we do it?

Part of the explanation is to be found in the fact that most cyberchondriacs are young, educated and affluent – they have access to the web at work and home, are able to search and grasp (to some extent) medical information which is intended for a professional audience and they have access to web news which can highlight the horrors of flesh eating bacteria, mad cow disease, ebola, SARS and so on. It’s a bit of a sad fact, but most people don’t read news reports which indicate how new scientific discoveries, treatments and technologies are helping in the treatment of many illnesses. However, reports are regularly published in the mainstream media of poor hospital treatment, mis-diagnosis by professional medical staff, ineffective services and lack of funding for new treatment.

Occasionally, a patient suffering a set of symptoms will in fact have a rare and serious illness. It would be a mistake to assume that we shouldn’t visit the doctor or the emergency department of a hospital if we are experiencing pain or extremely odd symptoms.

In many ways, it’s a good thing that people are now able to research aspects of their own health. Perhaps, given time it will create more of a ‘partner’ style of relationship between personal doctors and their patients. Many individuals already do some sort of home health monitoring, which can range from managing diet through to on-the-spot blood tests for certain factors. If this day-to-day personal health data is shared with physicians as well it will herald new abilities for prevention of future illnesses and treatment of chronic disease.

If you have the symptoms of a cyberchondriac you should lie down in a quiet place away from the internet and have a nice cup of hot chocolate. And while I have you paying attention, you should hear the story I have about being deathly sick last year and getting turned away from the hospital emergency department. Shocking….

For more information

Help for Hypochondria - Psychology Today
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_weapons_mass_destruction_page002.html

Self Test for Hypochondria!
http://www.uib.no/med/avd/med_a/gastro/wilhelms/whiteley.html