Dr. Google

[cbornet]

Hey everybody. I can't stop googling my symptoms! It's like an addiction. Every time I try and tell myself I won't do it today, but I soon find myself wasting hours trying to reassure myself I'm not seriously ill and dying. How do I stop this vicious cycle?? Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

[dlr108]

my gp told me to bin my mobile phone and she was serious didnt take her advice lol ive stopped googling rare heart problems that i used to think i have but i find myself getting new symptoms and googling neuro stuff now

i think cbt would help with this or try a distraction away from google

[puppyskin]

I tend to google for reasurance looking for the simple answer......but it always backfires..

[dlr108]

same here i used to look up ecg readings and what they mean leading to more anxiety i can almost read ecgs now lol

[cbornet]

I seriously have thought about just throwing my phone away! Haha. But yeah I'm seeing a therapist and he suggests to slowly limit myself on how long I spend doing it and then eventually I won't even do it anymore. Now I just have to stick to those time limits! :p

[sarahsarah]

Dr Google has NEVER reassured me, NEVER made me feel better about things, NEVER done anything but made my HA 10x worse, yet I still do it.

Today I have deliberately not turned on my iPad and even now I am only allowing myself half an hour to check e mails, FB, this site etc and do you know what- today has been a good day and I managed to actually do some productive things. No googling, no medical sites, no checking symptoms. It has been great.

If restricting my internet useage is what I have to do, then I will just blummin well do it. I reckon we could all do to spend more time away from it anyway, even if we're using it for entirely non-health related purposes. I certainly could.

I know I will lapse at some point but it is worth a try, I reckon. xx

[lily413]

I have been totally addicted to Googling my symptoms. I probably spent on average 2-3 hours a day (I work full time away from a computer so you can probaby work out how much this addiction has eaten into time I'm supposed to be relaxing in the evening with my partner!) Anyway, this forum has been a massive help in breaking this addiction. I find that when I get that impulsive need to Google, I just come on here instead and distract myself. Admittedly I do seek reassurance by posting my symptoms sometimes but I always get a lot more reassurance than I would consulting Dr Google! I have now gone nearly a week without Googling and I genuinely feel better for it. Of course its really really hard not to do it but its definitely the best the for us. So thank you to all of you for making this forum so great.