Web MD Disease Sweeps the Nation

By Karolyn Castaldo on May 20, 2012

There is a disease that plagues Americans. It’s extremely serious, contagious and horrible for your health. The symptoms go something like this: You feel a tiny bit sick, even just a little ill, maybe a headache, stomach ache, an unidentifiable red mark on your leg and you immediately assume the worst, look it up online and diagnose yourself with an incurable disease that is only found in developing countries you’ve never been to, right? I call this Web MD disease (or being an extreme hypochondriac!) and it is a serious problem in our country.

Photo from Flickr.com by Robert S. Donovan

I’ll admit, I am as guilty as anyone. I have been known to diagnose a headache as a concussion and a dull pain in my ankle as a break. Now, I may be one of the more dramatic and emphatic people you will meet in your life, so most of the time, I suggest these things in jest, but there are people out there who take these diagnoses to heart and confront their doctors with serious concern that they have Triple E when they have a headache.

With technology today, it is possible to look up absolutely anything, including a number of diseases. You can be sure that doctors rue the day that Web MD was created because they must get thousands and thousands of patients coming in convinced that they have some outlandish disease, when really they have the common cold and just need a bowl of chicken soup and some bed rest to feel better.

Because of the knowledge we have of new diseases and sicknesses, we have become a “germophobic” society, where even a little dirt and bacteria causes great alarm and mass amounts of hand sanitizer and Lysol disinfecting wipes have to be used on every inch of every surface. And the truth is, it is making us sicker as a culture. I’m all for not spreading germs, but overuse of these products actually causes our immune system to not be able to fight sickness on its own, making us more susceptible.

My advice to you is to be careful about germs, but not overcautious. If you really feel like something is wrong, don’t psych yourself out with crazy online diagnoses. Go to the doctor and have some tests done. They will do their best to figure out what’s wrong with you and you won’t worry yourself sick, pun intended.

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