Word of the Day: Cyberchondria

We use the internet for just about everything. The internet has replaced malls (we can shop online), banks (we can manage our money online), and even schools (we can earn a college degree online).

Some people are even using the internet to replace doctors. ‘Cyberchondria’ is the term used to describe an increase in online health concerns. Cyberchondria has a couple of different ‘strands’, if you will. Some Cyberchondriacs may enter their symptoms into a search engine and arrive at a self diagnosis based on the search results. Because everything on the internet is reliable and specified information, the cyberchondriac becomes convinced that he has whatever ailment his search engine produced and goes to his doctor demanding testing or treatment.

For example, a cyberchondriac may conduct a search for ‘vomiting’. He is led to a MayoClinic, Wikipedia, or WedMd site that lists ‘vomiting’ as a symptom of parasitic infection. Thus, he determines that he is indeed the host of a stomach inhabiting parasite and should high-tail it to theRead more