Cyberchondria: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:05, 8 April 2009

Overview

Cyberchondria is a colloquial term to describe the behavior of individuals who use the Internet to gather information on health or healthcare, for themselves or people in their care. The market research company Harris Interactive Inc., which makes use of the word in various studies, states that cyberchondria literally means "online concern about health."^[1]

Derivation

The term "cyberchondria" appears to be a portmanteau neologism derived from the terms cyber- and hypochondria. (The term "-chondria" derives from Greek and literally means "cartilage" or "breast bone.")

Researchers at Harris Interactive have clarified this etymology, and state in studies and interviews that the term is not necessarily intended to be pejorative.^[2]

Medical websites

Many reputable medical organizations maintain websites that may include brief overviews of various conditions for individuals with a general curiosity, or more detailed information to aid the understanding of people who have been properly diagnosed. However, some life-threatening diseases, including HIV infections, can present themselves with very general flu-like symptoms. Sites that disseminate medical information without stressing that many conditions (both major and minor) can have similar symptoms, and that proper diagnosis is generally impossible without the help of a medical professional, can potentially cause undue panic in those cyberchondriacs who are also hypochondriacs. These individuals can come to believe that their minor illnesses are caused by crippling diseases, and these incorrect self-diagnoses can lead to anxiety, guilt, and depression.

Less reputable websites may deliberately encourage hypochondria to get people to visit their site or to buy expensive and unnecessary medication.

Opening lines of communication

Therefore, although some medical practitioners are open to cyberchondriacs' personal research, stating that this can open lines of communication between doctors and patients, there is concern by other doctors about misuse of the Internet by people who mistakenly believe that the information they find is sufficient to make a self-diagnosis.^[3]

Notes

↑ "The Future Use of the Internet in 4 Countries in Relation to Prescriptions,Physician Communication and Health Information" (PDF). Harris Interactive Inc. 2002-06-20. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)
↑ Ackerman, Kate (2005-08-04). "Survey Gauges Number of Cyberchondriacs in the U.S." California Healthcare Foundation. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)
↑ "'Cyberchondria' hits web users". BBC News. 2001-04-13. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

Internet Makes Hypochondria Worse www.illnessworry.cumc.columbia.edu
New disorder, cyberchondria, sweeps the internet — an article from The New Zealand Herald
Internet Opens Up Whole New World Of Illness For Local Hypochondriac — an article from the satirical newspaper The Onion

[1] "The Future Use of the Internet in 4 Countries in Relation to Prescriptions,Physician Communication and Health Information" (PDF). Harris Interactive Inc. 2002-06-20. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)

[2] Ackerman, Kate (2005-08-04). "Survey Gauges Number of Cyberchondriacs in the U.S." California Healthcare Foundation. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)

[3] "'Cyberchondria' hits web users". BBC News. 2001-04-13. Retrieved 2006-12-11. Check date values in: |date= (help)

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