Have you ever diagnosed yourself based on information from the Internet? Have you ever found “friends in misfortune” on the net and exchanged opinions? Have you wasted time browsing forums and watching videos, forgetting about current affairs in real life?
If you answered “yes” to all three questions, then you should consider how thin the line is between curiosity and mental disabilities.
What does cyberchondria mean?
Cyberchondria is one of the sides of hypochondria, but in the latter case, a person is content with a limited amount of information. That is, for example, if he is interested in a healthy lifestyle, then he studies only research on issues of concern to him, and not everything …
Cyberchondria, on the contrary, goes beyond all boundaries, since a person is already automatically looking for diseases in himself, based on the mass of information from the network, which only aggravates his psychological state.
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Cyberchondria symptoms
The main symptoms of cyberchondria, if we consider the similarity of this problem with hypochondria, are:
- a person is actually physically healthy, against the background of this or that circumstance, his body reacts in a natural way, and he considers such a reaction to be abnormal;
- any psychiatrists, no matter how professional they are, seem incompetent to a person. If he is told that there are no health problems, then he perceives this as “unwillingness to delve into the problem”;
- the person constantly checks the pulse, blood pressure and other indicators;
- for at least six months, a person is in a restless state, it seems to him that he has several pathologies;
- the patient often discovers symptoms associated with the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the functioning of the bronchi, heart, stomach and other organs. Namely, this system is firmly connected with emotions, when the level of adrenaline rises, the heartbeat, pulse quickens, there are cramps in the stomach … And it scares. The person himself brings himself to such a state.
Distinctive signs of cyberchondria
- the patient independently makes a diagnosis and chooses a treatment regimen. Although, according to studies, diagnoses made in this way in no more than 15% of cases are actually confirmed;
- a person likes to be tested online to detect a disease;
- the patient is a member of various groups and forums related to the topic of health, where there are practically no professionals in the field of medicine, but only "like-minded people";
- a person prefers to be treated simply by reading information on the Internet or watching videos on their problem;
- after self-medication, the condition usually worsens.
How the Internet Trap Works
If a person has a cyberchondriasis disorder, then at the same time he experiences two opposite feelings - the need to be alone and the need to accept. When he begins to communicate online with like-minded people, feeling attention, support and everything else that he lacks in reality, then the feeling of anxiety decreases, there is hope for "healing".
After some time, the principle of psychological infection is triggered. During this period, a person begins to "put on the shelves" all the symptoms, their own and others'. He easily discovers the signs of a particular disease, that is, unconsciously provokes their appearance. And when the symptoms are found, panic begins, the patient is firmly convinced that he is sick.
Then the person looks for a method of treatment, buys drugs that do not solve the problem (because there is none), but cause side effects, which further aggravates the situation. If, while taking drugs, real patients recover, then the "imaginary" becomes worse, they fall into despair.
When the situation reaches an impasse, the doctors will no longer help, psychotherapists need to take on the job. And if a patient is looking for such specialists through the Internet without checking the accuracy of the information, then he risks even more. To get out of the crisis, it is better to work with a real professional, then there is a chance to get rid of emotional and psychological trauma.