I am very lucky to have the wonderful Richard Soper MD as my physician and he has been our family doctor for decades. With a friendly family doctor like Richard, you get a different experience because of the familiarity that you have and he is often telling me off for certain things which I do in terms of my lifestyle. Something which I am often scolded for is using Google to check my symptoms, something which a great many people do of course. Dr. Richard often reminds me that this is not a smart idea and that I should stop using ‘Dr. Google’ when I am feeling unwell, and here are the reasons why he thinks it is a bad idea.
Hypochondriac Paradise
Looking online can very quickly result in that little sniffle you have turning into some kind of brain tumor or disease which means that you only have days to live. When you consider the number of things that a simple symptom could mean, you are going to pretty much have your pick of diseases to choose from. A headache could mean you are stressed or it could indeed mean that you have a brain tumor, regardless of what the issue is, you aren’t going to find out by Googling.
Reliability of a Site
There are some fantastic medical websites out there such as WebMD which features a plethora of high quality medical information which has been provided by doctors, there are also some terrible sites out there with incorrect and downright wrong information. The point is that you never really know just how accurate the information is or how reliable the website may be.
You Could Really Worry Yourself
Sometimes we can feel as though we have symptoms just because they have been suggested and when seeking out your symptoms it can be very easy to freak out. It is very easy to convince yourself that you have a major problem and when you discover this you can guarantee that your anxiety and your stress levels are going to go through the roof. Even if you do get worried like this, you will have to make an appointment with the real doctor anyway, which means that you’ll be worrying unnecessarily based on what you have read.
You May Have an Issue
We have focused a lot on the fact that you may believe that you have something which you don’t, but there is also a very real concern that you do have something wrong, but based on what you have read online you pass it off as nothing, if you do this then you may need help and not go to get it because you have read online that everything is going to be fine.
AS Dr. Soper regularly reminds me, if you feel unwell, just go and see your local doctor and find out for sure whether or not there is something wrong with you at all.
