Internet Addiction & Hypochondria

[bigben70]

Gang:

I find that I spend an inordinate amount of item googling and researching all that ails me. From physical problems to mood disorders to personality disorders there is SO much information (and misinformation too...) out there to read. Or, in my case, obsess about. A doctor in the ER I visited just last week told me that this type of "home research" has one significant drawback and it's not necessarily the lack of the medical degree... it's the lack of hands on experience with illness that allows a professional to ignore the plethora of information out there and focus in quickly on the most relevant "suspects", allowing him or her to go on to a diagnosis.

In any case, I was wondering if there were others out there who found themselves obsessed with their own ailments, and who used the internet as a way to fuel their obsession.

For me, I keep seeing more and more "purple links" (sites I've visited already) and I am becoming aware that I keep putting the same search terms over and over.

Anxiety disorder.
Mood disorders.
Panic disorder.
Agoraphobia.
Agoraphbic parents.
Avoidand parents.
...
...

Not to mention repetetive drug interaction checks too. It's very bothersome and if an addiction is defined as something that inteferes with work and home life for more than "X" amount of time, an addiction this could well be...

Any feedback is appreciated, as always...

Cheers,
Big Ben

 

[Always Changing]

Educating oneself on ones own problems or illness I do not think qualifies as an obsession.
I personally use the internet as a way of questioning things, educating myself, learning all I can about "where I am" and how I can best use the information that I read, ( or ask for here). I can and do spend hours reading here (psychlinks forums ) and clicking on what I think are relevant links for me.
Am I obsessed with the internet in and of itself I do not think so. Do I want or need to be educating myself YES.

as an aside.. I found your list of search terms interesting, in that most if not all can be in some way related to each other. I wonder what it is you are searching for. Sometimes I have to keep looking until I find that one sentence that makes what I am feeling\thinking etc hit the spot, and then I say.. ah thats it! got it!.
sorry I am waffling now.

don't know if any of this helps at all.