Cyberchondria

Does this look infected? More and more people are turning to the internet to answer the question. While this may certainly takes the burden off of physicians at cocktail parties, using the internet as a source of medical information has its risks. One such risk is the contribution health sites make to hypochondriacs who seek out and develop symptoms based on what they read online, a phenomena know as Cyberchondria.

According to the Pew Internet Project Project survey 78% of home broadband users look online for health information.
Though health related searches only represent a small portion of non-entertainment related internet use (6% according to the Pew Study), it has the potential to impact decisions and healthcare choises made by users. According to the same survey, the top searches are Specific Disease or medical problem, medical treatments and procedures, and diet related searches.
A quick look at Google trends reveals the spike in searches for Flu related symptoms during the begining of the H1N1 pandemic scare.

Whether the internet has increased the number of people suffering from hypochondria isn’t clear. One thing is certain, it has made existing hypochondriacs worse says Brian Fallon, MD of Columbia U, and co-author of Phantom Illness.
The advice proscribed by Brian in a WebMD article is to avoid looking on the internet to self diagnose, as it only aggravates the condition.