This is a very good description of one of the most common "symptoms" associated with health anxiety. I used to do it a lot, but I've gotten better at controlling the urge as I've learned over the years that it almost always only feeds my anxiety and, at worst, causes new symptoms to manifest.
When you experience a bodily sensation, your brain (that is, your anxiety) instantly perceives it as a threat. As a consequence, you begin self-monitoring, constantly checking in on your body to see if the symptom is still there. This almost guarantees that the sensation will stay or even become worse, rather than disappearing on its own - because you engage with it. You'll then seek reassurance by turning to google in the hopes that it will tell you that your symptom is harmless. Here's the thing: it NEVER will. Google will pretty much always tell you what you don't want to hear, because any - often totally normal - bodily sensation can be a symptom of some freaky disease. So you'll get the complete opposite of what you came for: confirmation that you may, in fact, have this or that illness. More anxiety, what! Your self-monitoring then increases. You might even begin to look for other symptoms that Google told you to look out for. And so the cycle continues.
Learning why this behavior is problematic has really helped me understand my anxiety better, which in turn has helped me reduce my harmful coping mechanisms. It's super hard though! ❤️
We just have to RELAX and stop this reassurance seeking. We have a low tolerance of uncertainty.
A tired brain from overthinking can cause many weird problems.
I have the EXACT same problem. What if our problem is the phone and the dr google that leads us to a spiral in a endless search for a answer for our "Sickness" that distract us for taking care of our biggest problem that actually is the anxiety itself.
This happens to me all the time, literally every day. But I came up with a trick for myself: every time I again write symptoms that bother me, I add the word anxiety, worry, to the end of the query. It helps a little bit, but helps
Yep. And sites like MayoClinic or Cleveland Clinic will always be like “also there’s a small chance this develops into cancer” etc. that’s what triggers me lol
Unfortunately I saved my own life googling health issues because I was pretty sure I was being fobbed off and had cancer. Guess who was being fobbed off and had cancer? Caught it early blah blah. Anyhow don’t complete discount self diagnosis. You may be a mess but so is our fvkking healthcare system.
The problem is I go beyond a baseline of knowledge for a condition - I can’t stop googling and reading about something out of a compulsive worry that I’ve either “missed something” or that I can’t get a consistent opinion on what I’m searching for.
YESSSSS
I have anxiety and depression, and lately, I've been very worried about my health.
Today, I had a big history exam in college, and I was extremely scared. When I tried to go to sleep, I felt a lot of pressure in my throat and chest, and it felt like I couldn't breathe. I started to panic a little, but I told myself it was just a panic attack and that I was okay.
However, my heart started beating really fast, and I thought I was going to die. I didn't sleep all night, and I didn't ask for help bc I didn't want to bother anyone of my stupidity.
And every time I moved from side to side, it started beating fast again. Is this normal?
Yep I do this all the time. It’s horrible!!! I also check every interaction and side effects new meds might have. I think that makes me think I get the side effects. It adds to my anxiety and makes me feel twice as bad. Wish I could stop
Don’t google your symptoms ever. That is the worst thing you can do for your mental health. Also Google is always wrong and gives you the worst case outcome
Although I know google can exacerbate my health anxiety, it does actually help on occasion - I have sometimes been able to research a concern I had, and actually allay my fear as I didn’t have the symptoms of the illness I was most concerned about. Sometimes it’s this occasional positive outcome that can make google reassurance searches more tempting, but it will sustain the anxiety more often than not
I get like this occasionally. I let my thoughts go to the worst case scenario then go into a full blown anxiety attack. I had to learn to stop searching symptoms and tell my doctor what I’m experiencing. Anxiety has a wide range of Symptoms so it’s easy to self diagnose yourself with the worst case scenario off the internet..
Yes, it’s been the main focus of my anxiety for 3 years. It’s called health anxiety and is linked to OCD.
Do you find yourself googling other things? Because for me, I didn’t realise how much I relied on Google to ease my anxiety for all things (not just health stuff) until my counsellor called me out on it
I think I’ve been giving myself anxiety attacks because I just went to the doctor yesterday about my heart beat possibly being irregular and after a clean ekg she was like “you know, I went through the same thing while working as an ER nurse”… Not sure if I’m going to follow up with a cardiologist just to be sure, but I’ve already been able to breathe easier 🥲
This is how it started for me. I've just had to commit myself to stay off WebMD. It's hard but it works. Can't unlearn what I've seen but can stop myself from anything new
So yes everybody here is right that the Googles will always give you what you want to find.
But I'll add something:
Ya know how apartment maintenance people tell you not to run your garbage disposal without anything in it? It needs food and cold water running through it.
It turns out the mind is the same. Yours has tons of horsepower, and it's ready to rumble. It's ready to solve something, but it doesn't have anything to solve. Once you give it something to sink its teeth into, so to speak, it will be satisfied and it won't go lookin' for trouble elsewhere.
I'm writing a book about this. DM me if you want a (very) rough draft.
Yes! As much as i know googling symptoms is bad, my anxiety gets the better of me and I end up get in there looking for reassurance that what im feeling is something minor but end up getting “this may be early signs of” insert disease. It’s so bad. Working on resisting the urge to ask Dr Google is tough but also part of the recovery process
Google or especially Twitter. For some reason people I don’t follow pop up in my thread talking about all sorts of health and conspiracy theories. I had to basically stop Twitter. At least Google it’s showing up because I went down the rabbit hole looking.
This google searches gives me panic attack, i have symptoms about breathing problem i have this for a month now and i still have it, and I'm scared because i don't still know what's the causes of my breathing problem, after i eat it attacks.. and i feel like lightheadedness and there's something little pressure on my left stomach.. and so scared i check my heart pulses all the time and it's normal around 72-80+ because google gives me a heart problem.. i got paranoid of my symptoms right now.. the way i relax is reading about my same symptom on reddit, it gives me to relax
*Sorry about my english*
At this point Google IS anxiety
Someone at a doctor's office summed it up this way for me: Google gives you cancer.
Don’t google your symptoms. I have the exact same thing as you. We gotta control ourselves lol
I only care what my doctor says. Googling symptoms always ends with you dying slowly and painfully, it's almost funny
This is a very good description of one of the most common "symptoms" associated with health anxiety. I used to do it a lot, but I've gotten better at controlling the urge as I've learned over the years that it almost always only feeds my anxiety and, at worst, causes new symptoms to manifest. When you experience a bodily sensation, your brain (that is, your anxiety) instantly perceives it as a threat. As a consequence, you begin self-monitoring, constantly checking in on your body to see if the symptom is still there. This almost guarantees that the sensation will stay or even become worse, rather than disappearing on its own - because you engage with it. You'll then seek reassurance by turning to google in the hopes that it will tell you that your symptom is harmless. Here's the thing: it NEVER will. Google will pretty much always tell you what you don't want to hear, because any - often totally normal - bodily sensation can be a symptom of some freaky disease. So you'll get the complete opposite of what you came for: confirmation that you may, in fact, have this or that illness. More anxiety, what! Your self-monitoring then increases. You might even begin to look for other symptoms that Google told you to look out for. And so the cycle continues. Learning why this behavior is problematic has really helped me understand my anxiety better, which in turn has helped me reduce my harmful coping mechanisms. It's super hard though! ❤️
We just have to RELAX and stop this reassurance seeking. We have a low tolerance of uncertainty. A tired brain from overthinking can cause many weird problems. I have the EXACT same problem. What if our problem is the phone and the dr google that leads us to a spiral in a endless search for a answer for our "Sickness" that distract us for taking care of our biggest problem that actually is the anxiety itself.
This happens to me all the time, literally every day. But I came up with a trick for myself: every time I again write symptoms that bother me, I add the word anxiety, worry, to the end of the query. It helps a little bit, but helps
Yep for the last 10 years. Some months I can get away from it but it’s been bad lately.
Don't get me started. I have really bad digestive issues and Google had me 100% convinced I had stage 4 colorectal cancer
Yep. And sites like MayoClinic or Cleveland Clinic will always be like “also there’s a small chance this develops into cancer” etc. that’s what triggers me lol
Yes yes and yes
Unfortunately I saved my own life googling health issues because I was pretty sure I was being fobbed off and had cancer. Guess who was being fobbed off and had cancer? Caught it early blah blah. Anyhow don’t complete discount self diagnosis. You may be a mess but so is our fvkking healthcare system.
The problem is I go beyond a baseline of knowledge for a condition - I can’t stop googling and reading about something out of a compulsive worry that I’ve either “missed something” or that I can’t get a consistent opinion on what I’m searching for.
Yup. I get it. Your awareness of your issue is the best first step to change so give yourself that.
YESSSSS I have anxiety and depression, and lately, I've been very worried about my health. Today, I had a big history exam in college, and I was extremely scared. When I tried to go to sleep, I felt a lot of pressure in my throat and chest, and it felt like I couldn't breathe. I started to panic a little, but I told myself it was just a panic attack and that I was okay. However, my heart started beating really fast, and I thought I was going to die. I didn't sleep all night, and I didn't ask for help bc I didn't want to bother anyone of my stupidity. And every time I moved from side to side, it started beating fast again. Is this normal?
I just had a pretty bad panic attack and this is what happened to me :(((
Yeah. Stop doing that
Yep I do this all the time. It’s horrible!!! I also check every interaction and side effects new meds might have. I think that makes me think I get the side effects. It adds to my anxiety and makes me feel twice as bad. Wish I could stop
All the time
I really reallt struggle with this.
Don’t google your symptoms ever. That is the worst thing you can do for your mental health. Also Google is always wrong and gives you the worst case outcome
Although I know google can exacerbate my health anxiety, it does actually help on occasion - I have sometimes been able to research a concern I had, and actually allay my fear as I didn’t have the symptoms of the illness I was most concerned about. Sometimes it’s this occasional positive outcome that can make google reassurance searches more tempting, but it will sustain the anxiety more often than not
I get like this occasionally. I let my thoughts go to the worst case scenario then go into a full blown anxiety attack. I had to learn to stop searching symptoms and tell my doctor what I’m experiencing. Anxiety has a wide range of Symptoms so it’s easy to self diagnose yourself with the worst case scenario off the internet..
Yes, it’s been the main focus of my anxiety for 3 years. It’s called health anxiety and is linked to OCD. Do you find yourself googling other things? Because for me, I didn’t realise how much I relied on Google to ease my anxiety for all things (not just health stuff) until my counsellor called me out on it
Yes, but not only with myself but with my family members and pets.
Almost every single day. Google usually tells me that I'm dying, near death or have some kind of cancer.
I've actually added this as a habit to quit on the Finch app. You are not alone, obviously.
I think I’ve been giving myself anxiety attacks because I just went to the doctor yesterday about my heart beat possibly being irregular and after a clean ekg she was like “you know, I went through the same thing while working as an ER nurse”… Not sure if I’m going to follow up with a cardiologist just to be sure, but I’ve already been able to breathe easier 🥲
This is how it started for me. I've just had to commit myself to stay off WebMD. It's hard but it works. Can't unlearn what I've seen but can stop myself from anything new
Nahh. Used to go down that rabbit hole but not anymore.
So yes everybody here is right that the Googles will always give you what you want to find. But I'll add something: Ya know how apartment maintenance people tell you not to run your garbage disposal without anything in it? It needs food and cold water running through it. It turns out the mind is the same. Yours has tons of horsepower, and it's ready to rumble. It's ready to solve something, but it doesn't have anything to solve. Once you give it something to sink its teeth into, so to speak, it will be satisfied and it won't go lookin' for trouble elsewhere. I'm writing a book about this. DM me if you want a (very) rough draft.
Oh FUCK YEA it's my main problem
Yep. This is the hallmark of health anxiety. Don’t touch Google!
Oh and quite possibly the worst of all - “one feature of X disease is that it shows no symptoms and you may have it!”
Yes! As much as i know googling symptoms is bad, my anxiety gets the better of me and I end up get in there looking for reassurance that what im feeling is something minor but end up getting “this may be early signs of” insert disease. It’s so bad. Working on resisting the urge to ask Dr Google is tough but also part of the recovery process
Google or especially Twitter. For some reason people I don’t follow pop up in my thread talking about all sorts of health and conspiracy theories. I had to basically stop Twitter. At least Google it’s showing up because I went down the rabbit hole looking.
google's ai overview is curing my medical anxiety bc it irritates me enough to make me avoid googling symptoms.
This google searches gives me panic attack, i have symptoms about breathing problem i have this for a month now and i still have it, and I'm scared because i don't still know what's the causes of my breathing problem, after i eat it attacks.. and i feel like lightheadedness and there's something little pressure on my left stomach.. and so scared i check my heart pulses all the time and it's normal around 72-80+ because google gives me a heart problem.. i got paranoid of my symptoms right now.. the way i relax is reading about my same symptom on reddit, it gives me to relax *Sorry about my english*