Do you find yourself googling random symptoms you’re feeling in the hope of finding out what it is? Do you wind up getting anxious or freaked out because of what you find? If you do, then you also need to read why this is looking for answers in exactly the wrong place and how you can end up with an anxiety disorder if you keep doing it.
Dr. Google and the Need for Instant Answers
We have all become so used to going to the internet to get instant information and answers to everyday problems that we struggle with. If I need help figuring out how to do most anything, there is probably a You Tube video about how to fix it and a plethora of possible ways to handle it. We also may tend to look to the internet to find answers for our health problems, as some websites like WebMD and Mayo Clinic have become prominent in recent years. The googling of symptoms for health problems can become pretty questionable when we are desperate for answers and are prone to anxiety and depression, however.
What Dr. Google Can Do
At worst, the internet can lead you to believe you have a serious health problem when you really don’t have one. A good example of this is with somatic symptoms, which are physical symptoms that don’t have a physical cause. These are usually due to emotional or psychological causes, and diagnosing the cause of these with Dr. Google will most likely cause you to freak out and only make things worse. At best, you can get a sense of what might be at the root of your problem and lead you to call an actual doctor to get some answers. The key here is to actually find someone who can truly diagnose you while also hopefully building a therapeutic relationship with you.
What Dr. Google Can’t Do
The internet can’t actually know you well-enough to give you a definitive diagnosis, and it certainly can’t treat you in a way that will help you heal from whatever illness you’re suffering from. It’s not built to do that, as you aren’t actually interacting with another human being who can play that role. Sure, there are chat’s on some doctor’s websites that can get you an appointment or provide some possible answers, but you’re asking too much of the internet if you look to it to diagnose and treat any condition you suffer from. Medicine works best as a mode of healing, and any doctor with a good knowledge of the profession will tell you it’s an art as well as a science. The healing forces exist primarily within you, but it often takes a caring clinician and the treatment they provide to elicit those healing forces. Just being told “It’s all in your head” doesn’t help.
Dr. Google and Anxiety
The fear factor takes a giant leap up if you find an endless string of diagnoses to your set of symptoms and are sitting alone in front of your phone or computer to deal with them. That is how Dr. Google is bad for anxiety (and depression) for that matter. You are basically isolated when you’re interacting with it, and that is never conducive to healing and recovery from anything. We need connection, even in treating our illnesses, and when we are interfacing with an electronic device we have none of that. I’ve worked with a number of clients who have only made a bad thing worse by trying to find answers solely on the internet.
What to do if You Can’t Stop Checking with Dr. Google
One thing you can do is to actually contact your health professional, who needs to be able to see you and tell you what he or she thinks is wrong with you. If they can’t find anything actually wrong with you, contact a mental health professional like me who can help you identify what might be emotionally contributing to your ills. I’ve been helping clients with hypochondria and somatic symptoms for years to get rid of the actual source of their problems. Feel free to call the number at the top of the page or fill out the inquiry form below and I will get back to you for a free 20-minute phone consultation. That way you can get an idea about whether I can help you or not. In any case, getting real answers from real people is better than getting lost in the endless morass of what Dr. Google might lead you to believe, which is generally the worst-case scenario.
Visit our page on anxiety therapy to find out how Scott can help you stop checking with Dr. Google.
About the author: Scott Kampschaefer, LCSW is a private practice therapist in Frederick, Maryland. He has an extensive background in working with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder at a clinic for older adults with these disorders in Austin. He now works with adults and adolescents 14 and up in private practice. His most recent book is titled The 5 Pillars of Addiction Recovery and is available for purchase on Amazon and in paperback on this website.