HYPOCHONDRIA (Romance with Doctor Google)

I picked up my phone and immediately went on google, the all-knowing😏😏, to search for my latest symptom. There was an unusual boil under my jaw, this was the third time in 2 weeks a lump-like boil was developing on my body.

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Beep!

“Oh, google has answered”

My results – Skin cyst, oropharyngeal cancer, lipoma, hernia, etc.

My heartbeat increased, I felt light-headed and because humans are designed to always hope for the worst, I tapped on oropharyngeal cancer.

Here’s what I saw:

– trouble moving the tongue,

– trouble swallowing,

– sore throat that doesn’t go,

– lump in the neck, under cheek or jaw,

– loss of weight, etc.

So I spend the next few weeks depressed and detached, constantly checking myself for the following symptoms, life becomes miserable. This continues for as long as possible.

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The fellow described above has a clear case of hypochondria/illness anxiety disorder, a condition in which a person is continuously worried about having a serious but undiagnosed medical condition.

Hypochondria is a common condition among adults, although it is most times underneath. It has been on the rise since the globalization of the internet, which now gives easy access to the omniscient medical legend “Google”. Patients often refuse to visit a medical practitioner as they believe that will only affirm their suspicions or move from one doctor to another trying to justify their fears.

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 A young university student named “Kemi” might have just had her first unprotected sex and so is paranoid about contracting an STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection). Instead of visiting a clinic for a test (I mean! It’s the most advisable thing to do🤷), she checks herself for unusual symptoms and looks it up online. And “yes dear, the internet is a modern-day Hitler, it will always bring out the worst search results available and begin to kill you from inside out.”

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Hypochondria is an issue of concern because it brings about severe bouts of fear, depression, anxiety, and unproductivity😭😭😭. Over time, anxiety and depression make one depreciate and begin to manifest caricature forms of the symptoms they so painfully dread.

CAUSES

1. Extreme stress

2. Various forms of trauma, e.g rape, abuse, etc.

3. Family illnesses

4. Anxiety or Depression

5. Past experiences with ailments

SYMPTOMS

1. High anxiety about health,

2. Exaggerating symptoms,

3. Constantly searching/researching symptoms (a simple pimple and 🏃🏃🏃”yo! Doctor Google! Help me out”),

4. Detachment from people to avoid spreading or contracting the said ailment,

5. Obsession over normal body functions (I need to get a sphyg for my pressure, a thermometer🌡️ for my temperature, I need to check my pulse hourly time⏱️),

6. Disbelieving a doctor’s negative report/reassurance and retaking the test or changing doctors,

7. Frequently talking about your health, etc.

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Hypochondria is often diagnosed by a medical personnel, who then ascertains the degree/extent and suggests treatment.

TREATMENT

It is often treated with:

– Psychotherapy.

– Medications.

Hypochondria begins slowly, it starts with that first search. It is an energy-sucking demon.

It can make a common cough look like lung cancer and heat rash look like memory-eating syphilis. 

Have you noticed something unusual about your body? Are you anxious about your health? Then, visit a medical practitioner, and leave Doctor Google alone.