Cyberchondriasis is the term used to describe a mental disorder in which sufferers develop a serious fear of being seriously ill by intensively researching symptoms of illness on the Internet. It is a neologism made up of the word components “cyber” and “hypochondria.”
What is cyberchondriasis?
Cyberchondria is spoken of when those affected develop hypochondriacal tendencies through information on health topics on the Internet or when these tendencies intensify. This mostly involves research on real or imagined symptoms of illness in health portals or medical encyclopedias. Faulty, misunderstood or dramatized presentations create a distorted image of the danger of any symptoms; an exaggerated fear of infectious diseases can also develop. Triggered and strengthened by this knowledge, psychological problems can develop up to the full picture of a hypochondriac disorder. The patient then suffers from massive fears regarding serious physical illnesses and cannot be convinced of the opposite even by inconclusive medical diagnostics. Normal physical functions are given excessive attention, even harmless symptoms are meticulously observed and misinterpreted as signs of serious physical illness. There is disagreement as to whether hypochondriacal disorders should be classified as obsessive-compulsive disorders or somatoform disorders.
Causes
On the one hand, the development of disorders of the hypochondriacal spectrum can be attributed to early formative experiences that disrupt confidence in one’s own health and the reliability of one’s own body (e.g., serious illnesses in the close family environment, especially in childhood). An overprotective family environment can deprive the child of confidence in his or her own abilities and mature the basic belief that the whole world is dangerous and unpredictable. In addition, a genetic predisposition is suspected. The ubiquitous availability of medical knowledge on the Internet has made it particularly easy to research even harmless symptoms and to associate them with a wide variety of diseases. The impenetrability and mass of available information makes meaningful weighting difficult for the medical layperson and thus favors the development of cyberchondriasis.
Symptoms, complaints, and signs
Cyberchondriasis can have a very negative impact on the quality of life and on the daily life of the affected person. In some cases, the disease symptoms sought are also caused by the disease, so that serious damage to health can occur. Those affected generally suffer from a strong fear of suffering from a disease and therefore search the Internet intensively for symptoms. In doing so, the searches are often compulsive and associated with a strong fear, so that those affected by cyberchondriasis suffer from anxiety or panic attacks. Since the descriptions on the Internet often also directly indicate certain diseases, the sufferers quickly believe that they are suffering from the respective disease. This can also lead to treatment and possibly even the taking of medication, although this is not necessary. Similarly, patients with cyberchondriasis very often visit a doctor, although they are not actually ill. The disease also has a negative effect on the social environment, as the affected person turns away from his friends and family and devotes himself to the disease. Likewise, many patients suffer from [depressed mood|psychological upset]] or depression. In some cases, this even reduces the patient’s life expectancy due to cyberchondriasis.
Diagnosis
Cyberchondriasis is not a fixed clinical picture in the psychiatric sense, which complicates diagnosis. A classic hypochondriacal disorder is diagnosed when the fear of suffering from a physical illness dominates a person’s thinking, and the affected person observes the functions of his or her own body with excessive attention and misinterprets them as symptoms of illness. In the case of cyberchondriasis, time-consuming Internet research is added to the mix, reinforcing hypochondriacal symptoms. Because patients usually go to the doctor with physical complaints, hypochondria is often only recognized very late.On average, seven years pass before an appropriate diagnosis is made; by this time, the behavior has often become highly chronicized, making treatment all the more difficult.
When should you see a doctor?
In this age of modern multimedia, people also get their desired health information from the Internet. This sometimes also leads to some anxiety, but this is nothing unusual and is not necessarily a compelling reason to visit the doctor. Nevertheless, there are some cases in which a visit to the family doctor makes sense as a trusted contact for those affected. This is true, for example, for patients who are anxious about a new symptom and need medical clarification for their discomfort to find reassurance. In particular, this is important if the reason for seeking information in the cyber domain was severe pain or the suspicion of an illness requiring prompt treatment. Here, the family doctor will either make or rule out the suspected diagnosis after a thorough examination. If the primary care physician makes the diagnosis of cyberchondriasis instead of a physical cause due to the patient’s frequent visits to the doctor for fear of self-diagnosed illnesses via the Internet, he or she can help through an empathetic conversation or referral to a psychologist. For this reason, a visit to the doctor is also advisable for all those who notice that their research into medical facts on the Internet is causing increasing anxiety. At the latest when thoughts revolve almost exclusively around supposed diagnoses and restrict the lives of those affected, professional help is important.
Treatment and therapy
Because cyberchondriasis is a relatively new phenomenon, no specialized treatment programs exist for it. However, analogous to hypochondriasis, psychotherapeutic treatment in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy is likely to be the treatment of choice. On the one hand, an attempt is made to resolve the misconception that the patient is suffering from a serious illness at the level of reason. On the other hand, the patient trains to reduce his hypochondria-reinforcing behavior. In the context of cyberchondriasis, it would be of particular importance here that the patient refrains from researching any symptoms on the Internet and builds up alternative behaviors in order to be able to effectively settle his worries and conflicts. In severe cases, supportive drug therapy with antidepressants may also be helpful.
Outlook and prognosis
The prognosis of cyberchondriasis depends especially on whether the affected person recognizes the unhealthy connection between looking up symptoms of the disease on the Internet and the increasing fear of serious illness. If he learns to rely on what his doctors say and not to look things up on the Internet, there is a good chance that he will gradually be able to discard cyberchondria. The situation may be different if a person affected by cyberchondria does not recognize the negative consequences of his behavior and places his knowledge gained from the Internet above the diagnoses of his doctors or perhaps even refrains from visiting his doctor. This can worsen the prognosis around his or her well-being in two ways at once. On the one hand, the use of search engines is often the reason why the fear of incurable diseases can increase significantly in the affected person. Searching for advice on the Internet can take on addictive characteristics, so that the person suffering from cyberchondria spends a large part of his private and not infrequently also professional time researching on the Internet. On the other hand, the often high psychological stress of those affected can lead to psychosomatic reactions. If headaches, stomach problems or sleep disorders are then added, the patient feels confirmed in his assumption of a bad illness and the vicious circle between researching and new symptoms is reinforced.
Prevention
Cyberchondriasis represents a mental disorder. As with all such disorders, the same applies here: Good mental hygiene is the best protection. Long-lasting stresses and conflicts, a draining lifestyle always represent risk factors that can pave a way in this or other disorders. With regard to cyberchondriasis in particular, it is usually not advisable to read up on diffuse symptoms of the disease on the Internet.In most cases, links to the most serious diseases can be found here even for harmless symptoms, even if an actual connection is extremely unlikely. Anyone suffering from persistent complaints should leave the diagnosis to an experienced medical professional.
Follow-up
In the case of an aftercare, the measures of follow-up are limited in most cases or are not available to the affected person at all. In this case, the patient is primarily dependent on rapid and, above all, early detection of the disease, so that it does not lead to further psychological upsets or depression. In the worst case, various illnesses can occur, even though the patient was not ill at first. In the case of cyberchondriasis, aftercare measures are limited to avoiding the triggering factors. In many cases, intensive and loving conversations with one’s own parents or with friends and other trusted persons help. However, in many cases, professional treatment by a psychologist is also necessary in order to alleviate the symptoms completely and, above all, permanently. Often, friends or relatives have to point out the symptoms of cyberchondria to the person affected so that he or she initiates treatment. In severe cases, treatment in a closed clinic may even be necessary. As a rule, cyberchondriasis does not reduce the patient’s life expectancy. Likewise, contact with other patients of the disease can have a positive effect on the further course.
What you can do yourself
In the case of cyberchondriasis, the affected person can obtain an improvement in his quality of life within a short period of time with sufficient discipline. There are several ways for him to do this. If he lives in a family or partnership environment, he can ask these people to install a password-protected Internet block. He can also make this request to people in his close social environment. In addition, it is possible to commission an Internet or PC company to do this. Since it belongs to the clinical picture of cyberchondria to look for loopholes nevertheless, the concerning can take up a therapeutic assistance. In addition, if he has sufficient self-discipline, he can research the symptoms of the disorder, critically reflect on his own behavior, and then see a doctor. In some cases, it helps if private Internet access is terminated and non-Internet-enabled cell phones are used. Each person reacts individually and should therefore question themselves as to which path would be possible and realistic for them. Some experience relief by turning more to other areas of life. Dating friends, exercising, changing jobs, or taking a vacation in an area without Internet access could be helpful. Engaging in volunteer activities can also change one’s behavior and spark new interests through the activity.
