I recently came across this article published in Psychosomatics (from the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine). Yes, there really is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to psychosomatic disorders!The article validates much of what I have observed in my practice of clinical infectious diseases. Whether it is chronic fatigue, chronic Lyme disease etc, patients with already high levels of anxiety searching for medical information online felt worse after online symptom checking. In fact, spending greater than 3 hours per day on the Internet for symptom searches resulted in heightened anxiety during the online search and worse anxiety afterwards.
Cyberchondria.
Perhaps we should now recommend that patients with illness anxiety avoid the Internet for illness related medical information.
Easier said then done.
