Microsoft researchers define Cyberchondria as: "the unfounded escalation of concerns about common symptomatology, based on the review of search results and literature on the Web." Read their report here.
The researchers point out that the Web, including sites like WebMD, offers a ton of great info that can turn those of us who don't play doctors on TV or in real life into pretty handy self-diagnosers. The problem is that people tend to get more and more anxious as they get ahold of more and more details about their possible maladies.
Microsoft researchers surveyed 515 people's health-related searches as the basis for their study and paid particular attention to how searches about common, pretty harmless issues can lead people to delve into symptoms for more serious issues that they less likely are afflicted by. For example, those suffering from headaches or breathlessness can suddenly find themselves sweating it out about brain tumors or heart attacks when they might merely have a minor allergic reaction. And these are mostly people who wouldn't consider themselves hypochondriacs, according to the survey.
Then of course there's the post-search hangover issue: Searches feeling anxiety over whatever they were searching.
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