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Cyberchondria - costing the NHS millions

lauluce

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
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591
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argentina
TiredSam said:
Cyberchondria sounds like a word invented purely to facilitate dismissal of any patient who informs themself and asks questions. The British love jumping on board with a new word like this which labels a social stereotype and sticks the boot in. Now we are all cyberchondriacs and the press is playing along as usual.

How can you have informed patient consent if patients are to be belittled when they inform themselves? Unless "informed patient" means informed by their doctor and nobody else.
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EXACTLY, the medical comunnity and the goverment cannot accept that the times have changed and the whole medical knoledge of humankid is now at the reach of every single person, and that they now can't simple tell the patient "it's all in your head" or "we can't do nothing to improve your condition", when the patient can figure out that that's not the case by 1hr of research on reputable and trustworthy sources like peer reviewed papers, medical books, or research institutions and universitie's publications
 
lauluce

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
chipmunk1 said:
I wonder what would happen if you told the doctor you think you suffer from cyberchondria because you read about it on the internet and you are sure you have it and you must receive treatment for this serious mental illness.
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he/she would tell you, grabbing his/her head "this is above my paygrade"
 
lauluce

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
chipmunk1 said:
Cyberchondria is the fear that a patient could become informed by accessing the internet.

My impression is that most cyberchondriac patients experience the symptoms first and start to worry later and consult Dr. Google looking for answers.
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what I try to explain doctors is that "google" which is actually just one of the many search engines that exists is a tool, a mean to search from information and that the information found by such means is not generated by google. Using the internet, you can access information from THE SAME SOURCES that doctors use to inform themselves, so if they refute your analisis of your medical problem based on the source of your information, they should by simple logic, REFUTE THEIR OWN!
 
chipmunk1

chipmunk1

Senior Member
Messages
765
lauluce said:
what I try to explain doctors is that "google" which is actually just one of the many search engines that exists is a tool, a mean to search from information and that the information found by such means is not generated by google. Using the internet, you can access information from THE SAME SOURCES that doctors use to inform themselves, so if they refute your analisis of your medical problem based on the source of your information, they should by simple logic, REFUTE THEIR OWN!
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tell him you found it on Pubmed instead of Google.
 
A

Alvin2

The good news is patients don't die the bad news..
Messages
3,024
slysaint said:
1 in 5 is, I think, also the number quoted for MUS?
1 in 4 is often the number used for 'mental health issues'
So does that mean that they are all going to be referred for CBT?
Definitely a growth industry; can I buy some shares somewhere? (might have to get more rubber ducks).
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Thats a good point, though i also disagree that depression is a biochemical imbalance and that CBT (or ignore your problems) or uppers (antidepressants) are the solutions to emotional trauma
 
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lauluce

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
wastwater said:
What happens if you are looking for something very complex,it may look like hypochondria to an observer
One of my health fears is I have a condition that no one is looking into seriously
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dont use the word "fear", friend. I feel "concern" would be a much more appropite term, as the word reflects better the fact that you are trying to solve a problem which you consider having due to evidence and the analisis of it rather than a delusion or irrational or pathological though as the word "fear" seems to convey
 
Mithriel

Mithriel

Senior Member
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690
Location
Scotland
It also works the other way and saves medicine money. I have bad pains in my shoulder but with ME a trip to the doctor is an ordeal so I searched the internet, found the exact description and exercises to help.

Also, a few years ago I developed black lines on my toes. My diabetic nurse examined them, said they were not caused by diabetes. The hospital podiatrist looked at them, said he didn't know what they were, just one of those things. I was more curious than worried so googled it. Turns out it is a problem with melanin (I have vitiligo) which must be monitored as it can turn cancerous. Bob Marley died of it. I keep an eye on them and they have faded - I went through a period when all my autoimmune diseases got worse - but we need the internet because medical people are only human and don't know everything.
 
lauluce

lauluce

as long as you manage to stay alive, there's hope
Messages
591
Location
argentina
Mithriel said:
It also works the other way and saves medicine money. I have bad pains in my shoulder but with ME a trip to the doctor is an ordeal so I searched the internet, found the exact description and exercises to help.

Also, a few years ago I developed black lines on my toes. My diabetic nurse examined them, said they were not caused by diabetes. The hospital podiatrist looked at them, said he didn't know what they were, just one of those things. I was more curious than worried so googled it. Turns out it is a problem with melanin (I have vitiligo) which must be monitored as it can turn cancerous. Bob Marley died of it. I keep an eye on them and they have faded - I went through a period when all my autoimmune diseases got worse - but we need the internet because medical people are only human and don't know everything.
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generally, they know very little... it's just logical, how much of the whole medical knowledge gathered by humanity so far can they adquire at college? 5%? it should be considered also that most of them do not attemp to learn anything new once graduated
 
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