paranoia and distrustful nature of hypochondriacs. Therefore, this paper will argue the accessibility and widespread exigence and rhetoric of Internet medical websites and forums creates the medicalization of a new type of hypochondria defined as a cyberchondria, which has further led to a rise in paranoia, anxiety, and trust in inaccurate Internet sources. To understand the nature of the Internet medical rhetoric that prompts and creates stress on those who misdiagnose themselves, it thus becomes critical
Hypochondriasis is a mental illness wherein an individual is preoccupied with the fear of having or the idea of having a serious disease. It involves the misunderstanding of bodily symptoms. The sensations of most hypochondriacs are intense and disturbing, leading to incorrectly connecting the symptoms to a serious disease. It said that hypochondria is caused by a patients excessive worrying with having or developing a disease. Often these patients seek medical attention, but a doctor's reassurance
be able to understand and/or interpret the information given resulting in obsession, depression, paranoia, stress and other serious mental illnesses. Although only a fraction of internet symptom researchers develop cyberchondria, the illness should not be taken lightly. Cyberchondria is a chronic mental illness that can have a significant impact on their health and
Hypochondria, also known as hypochondriasis is known as unconditional fears of having a disease or a medical problem. Health Anxiety as well as Illness Anxiety is also common names for this condition. As it highly resembles an anxiety disorder, Hypochondriasis is also said to be a Somatoform disorder as well. A somatoform disorder is described as having physical symptoms that have no medical cause (Hypochondriasis and Substance Abuse, n.d). This stems from the misinterpretation of symptoms and the
"Eight new mental illnesses brought to you by the Internet"). Another mental illness in the technology era that Google also be a part of is "Cyberchondriacs" – an excessive health anxiety attack generated by online searches (qtd.in Lebowitz, "Cyberchondria: Do You Have Serious Health Anxiety?"). From the growth of Internet comes the birth of the social media, a place where everyone has a chance to connect to anyone around the globe. With this invention, humanity socialization seems to
For my research paper I chose the two mental illnesses of hypochondriasis and Munchausen by proxy. I chose these topics because I have an aunt related by marriage who is thought to have hypochondriasis and Munchausen by proxy because like hypochondriasis it can be used as a way to gain attention or sympathy from others. I will start off with hypochondriasis since it is the illness I have the most familiarity with. Hypochondriasis is defined in the DSM-IV-TR under somatoform disorders as “Preoccupation