Is googling symptoms bad ?

[victoriaaaa]

Iv got really bad health anxiety at the moment and i google everything , I'm very in tune with my body so
I don't know if it's making it worse looking on the internet ? Would you say it causes your anxiety to be worse and do you worry more ? Everything just seems to be the Nasty diseases . How do I stop myself from googling ? Thankyou !

I am a nurse who works in ITU, to be honest I would google too.

If you have anxiety then googling your symptoms will only make you more anxious. Find something else to do instead.

Just stop doing it. It drove my anxiety the roof! I also couldn't watch any hospital program, real or drama it was a nightmare, my poor doctor was at her wits, she banned me from googling!

I have anxiety and googling symptoms makes me 10 times worse I self diagnose then worry myself silly untill I see a gp and it turns out to be something and nothing. I stay away from Google now.

I also can't watch any doctor programs on TV.

@userxx

Just stop doing it. It drove my anxiety the roof! I also couldn't watch any hospital program, real or drama it was a nightmare, my poor doctor was at her wits, she banned me from googling!

Sounds like me. Honestly I was so bad, any little twinge I would Google and convince myself I had it. I'm only just overcoming it myself it's so hard

@Cherrytart23

I also can't watch any doctor programs on TV.

Odd isn't it. I also couldn't hear of people being poorly, I must have looked like a cold hearted cow because I'd have to tell them to stop telling me. I'm much better now but looking back the fear was very real.

@bananaandoears It's horrific, a cruel trick of the mind.

@userxx it really is. Health anxiety is the worse illness I have ever suffered from. The physical symptoms it can cause are horrendous, even thinking back now to how bad I was makes me upset x

I have health anxiety and googling is the worst thing to do even really reputable sites. It’s like constantly feeding an addiction.

I have health anxiety and the way we live now is so triggering for it. Constant focus on illness everywhere and testing yourself regularly is basically the ‘what not to do’ of managing health anxiety. I think we may see a lot more of this in future.