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Are you a 'cyberchondriac'?

Discussion in 'Polls Forum' started by Martin, Dec 20, 2007.

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Are you a 'cyberchondriac'?.

  1. Yes

    5 vote(s)
    33.3%

  2. No

    10 vote(s)
    66.7%
Top Posters
  1. Martin

    Martin Active Member

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    Are you a 'cyberchondriac'?

    ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- First-year medical students are some of the biggest hypochondriacs around. Bombarded with information about every disease under the sun, they start to imagine they have them all. In their minds, every mole is skin cancer. A nosebleed is surely a sign of a tumor. Headache? Must be skyrocketing blood pressure.
    "People get terribly anxious," says Dr. Arthur Barsky, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "One woman who came to see me was convinced she had melanoma. She brought in 20 pages of color photos of various skin lesions, trying to figure out which one looked most like hers."
    And now, because of the Internet, we can all be first-year medical students. We can all develop what's called "medical student syndrome." We get basic information, and not necessarily a lot of context, and we're off and running toward a conclusion that may be completely wrong.
    Of course, health information on the Internet can be truly useful. But how do you know when you're using it constructively, and when you've gone off on a medical wild goose chase? "I think it's fairly easy to cross that line," says Robin DiMatteo, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.
    So how do you know when you've become a "cyberchondriac"?

    Read the rest of the story...
     
    #1 Martin, Dec 20, 2007
  2. Martin

    Martin Active Member

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    I have to answer "YES" to my own poll.

    Having been the victim of various health problems over the past year, I have learned never to search the internet for medical information. Everytime I have searched the web for medical stuff I have come away confused, disturbed, and frightened. I have learned that my doctors know enough and do a good job keeping me going. They don't need me searching the internet trying to do their job for them. :laugh:
     
    #2 Martin, Dec 20, 2007
  3. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    OH no!!!

    I just searched the web to find out why I was gaining weight and having swolen ankles...

    I think I am pregnant!!!!
     
    #3 tinytim, Dec 21, 2007
  4. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    I haven't started my Menstruel Cycle either...


    "Honey, I have some bad news!!!"
     
    #4 tinytim, Dec 21, 2007
  5. Trotter

    Trotter <img src =/6412.jpg>

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    ROFL!

    I know a few. I specifiacally avoid looking my stuff up. If I am going to pay a doctor, I want him to earn it. ;) I will, however, look up whatever he diagnoses so I can be a better patient.
     
    #5 Trotter, Dec 22, 2007
  6. Joe

    Joe New Member

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    Self diagnosis has been effective for me. Most everything (or all) I thought I had was verified online and thru tests run at an independent lab down the street. Learned I carried the strep virus perminantly before my doctor knew. This keeps my medical information out of my medical chart, and only in between me & Doc, so our insurance rates don't increase. Natural cures used to be readily available online until the government started controlling the world wide web. Everything must be diagnosed a "disease" in the US in order for the government to control the cure, thus prescribing more drugs. Each drug has side effects so often, they prescribe more drugs to offset the chaos caused by the first one. A vicious circle and money making $$ scheme. Even for illnesses like scuuvy, where all you need is an increase of vitamin C. Imho, medical insurance is becoming almost useless nowadays.
     
    #6 Joe, Dec 22, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 22, 2007
  7. Gold Dragon

    Gold Dragon Well-Known Member

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    This was totally me because I am a 1st year medical student. The week I studied breast cancer, I was "practicing" feeling for nodules under the skin when I noticed a hard mobile lump on my leg that I never noticed before. It totally freaked out my wife when I told her what it could be. I was pretty sure it wasn't any kind of cancer and I'm usually pretty chill about my own health, but studying breast cancer had me a little spooked too, so I checked it out with the GP. Fortunately it was just a cyst but I was definitely a victim of medical student syndrome.
     
    #7 Gold Dragon, Dec 26, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 26, 2007
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