During our class presentation last week most of the class argued that they would not self diagnose over the Internet because of the great amounts of serious conditions that can come up. The majority felt more comfortable going to a physicians for answers and felt that it was a smarter choice. A recent study showed that 8 of 10 Internet users were using the Internet to answer health related questions and that many of them were searching websites to find people with the same conditions as them.
I don't know if any of you heard about Tim Stauffer a baseball player from the San Diego Padres who diagnosed himself with appendicitis on his iPhone. He typed in his symptoms on his Web Md app and after hours of pain he decided to go to the hospital where later on that day had his appendix removed. To Stauffer his Web MD app who he rarely uses was a life saver but unfortunately for others the search results that come up in sites such as Web Md or Mayo Clinic are not correct and can lead the individual to become stressed and believe everything they read about the condition they were given. My question is when do you know that you are using the health information you found constructively and when do you realize you have crossed the line? I know many of us have used the Internet to self diagnose but how many actually believe that they have that condition and start getting paranoid? As mentioned earlier in last weeks blog a cyberchondriac is someone who relies on the Internet to self diagnose medical conditions.
So how do you know if your a cyberchondriac?
There are four signs that can let you know.
Do you go visit medical websites to get relief from anxiety?
Does the time spent surfing the Internet for health symptoms interfere with your life?
Do you look for reassurance in chat rooms or social networks?
Do you consistently visit your doctor because you think you have all these medical conditions?
I think websites are great tool to use in conjunction with regular visits to the doctor. It becomes an issue once a person begins to obsess with diagnosing illnesses.The internet surfing should not occur on a daily basis and lead to paranoia.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that I can ever become a cyberchondriac. That's because I have never used a med site and don't plan on it.Now, what I intend to do is spend a lot of time in social networks and blogging. That wouldn't qualify would it. So, I guess I'll never have to be a cyberchondriac. Wait! I've learned to never say never. Maby one day everyone will have to use such med sites, they could very well become the gate keepers to HMO's or hospitals and clinics.
ReplyDeleteI think every source of infromation can be useful. How would we decide if the information is credible or not? I think to answer this question we will have to rely on our intelligence. We as human beings even of average intelligence should be able to think critically about information we recieve on daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI think websites are a great source. Yes, diagnoising yourself is a risk taker but yet could help you by a whole lot. Of course, it is up to you to take action, on whether or not to go to the doctor or not. I sometimes look at medical sites to release some anxiety at times, or if I don't have a sister or cousin to run and talk with, technology has grown so much that some people just automatically think about running online to check up their symptoms. But like Olga says, we must rely on our own intelligence.
ReplyDeleteI am in no way a cyberchondriac. I go to the doctor's office when me or my kids get sick. I would never rely on an online website to diagnose a condition. However, I do like to look up information on all types of health information. I also think that it is okay to use the information for my own knowledge of health related topics, or once diagnosed by a doctor in person, then look to the internet for materials to educate myself. This past week I was hospitalized and given very little discharge information or even really told anything about what it was exactly or anything, so when I got to feeling a little better, and recovering from surgery, I went online and did some research.
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