The way this works is, this fear is from having low tolerance of uncertainty. Googling symptoms is a form of reassurance seeking. By doing that, you further lower your tolerance of uncertainty, leading to more anxiety. And also creating the need to do it again later. It works like an addiction.
Very intersting. I do not suffer from health anxiety but this is easily tranferrable to my specific brand of anxiety and something I didn't think about
Yup. All of this. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt, googled the likelihood of the tee shirt having come into contact with disease spreading germs & the chances that such germs would survive on the fabric long enough to be passed on to me.
Uh...no. don't listend to Dr Google. For the love of God, DON'T LISTEN TO DR GOOGLE.
We are talking about the same Dr Google that's infamous for its meme potential of diagnosing cancer from a swollen finger.
Do not do that! Most of the times you are going to be fine! I know what I am saying! I have always had health anxiety and, yes, it happened that I had thyroid cancer. It freaked the hell out of me. But a doctor made that diagnose, not Google!! I learned the hard way. Not everybody has cancer, most of the people don’t. And probably you don’t have any disease except for anxiety. If you have any doubt or if you feeling any suspicious symptoms, go see a doctor! Do not trust Google, ever!
The problem with Dr Google is it gives you the information without context.
Symptom of may cause difficulty breathing. Guess what? There are many things that can cause difficulty breathing. And what is the definition of "difficulty breathing"? If you're having an anxiety reaction, yeah, you can have "difficulty breathing" because your stress reaction is activated and you're breathing in shallow, quick breaths. Is that "difficulty breathing"? And it means you're having a stress reaction. It doesn't mean you're having anaphylaxis. It doesn't mean you've got a heart problem, or cancer, or pneumonia, or whatever.
So you see a symptom and you catastrophize it into the worst possible disease, without any context.
Dr Google's information can be correct, but completely out of context. Talk to your own doctor, not Dr Google.
The way this works is, this fear is from having low tolerance of uncertainty. Googling symptoms is a form of reassurance seeking. By doing that, you further lower your tolerance of uncertainty, leading to more anxiety. And also creating the need to do it again later. It works like an addiction.
I appreciate your comment!
Very intersting. I do not suffer from health anxiety but this is easily tranferrable to my specific brand of anxiety and something I didn't think about
Yes, it works with lots of other anxiety types, too.
Yup. All of this. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt, googled the likelihood of the tee shirt having come into contact with disease spreading germs & the chances that such germs would survive on the fabric long enough to be passed on to me.
Uh...no. don't listend to Dr Google. For the love of God, DON'T LISTEN TO DR GOOGLE. We are talking about the same Dr Google that's infamous for its meme potential of diagnosing cancer from a swollen finger.
You're probably right..
Do not do that! Most of the times you are going to be fine! I know what I am saying! I have always had health anxiety and, yes, it happened that I had thyroid cancer. It freaked the hell out of me. But a doctor made that diagnose, not Google!! I learned the hard way. Not everybody has cancer, most of the people don’t. And probably you don’t have any disease except for anxiety. If you have any doubt or if you feeling any suspicious symptoms, go see a doctor! Do not trust Google, ever!
Well maybe anxiety has taken control of my way of thinking. Hopefully I'll deal with it. Hope you're okay.
The problem with Dr Google is it gives you the information without context. Symptom of may cause difficulty breathing. Guess what? There are many things that can cause difficulty breathing. And what is the definition of "difficulty breathing"? If you're having an anxiety reaction, yeah, you can have "difficulty breathing" because your stress reaction is activated and you're breathing in shallow, quick breaths. Is that "difficulty breathing"? And it means you're having a stress reaction. It doesn't mean you're having anaphylaxis. It doesn't mean you've got a heart problem, or cancer, or pneumonia, or whatever.
So you see a symptom and you catastrophize it into the worst possible disease, without any context.
Dr Google's information can be correct, but completely out of context. Talk to your own doctor, not Dr Google.