Attention! Self-diagnosis and treatment always carry health risks: how to avoid this

The Internet has given people the opportunity to obtain detailed information on almost any disease. And this is a great temptation to diagnose and prescribe treatment for yourself, especially in those moments when it seems that your case is simple, clear and typical and you, as a patient, can do without the help of a doctor. On the other hand, there are people who tend to look for various diseases in themselves. They are also called “hypochondriacs”. Hypochondriacs always exaggerate their conditions. The Internet gives hypochondriacs the opportunity to “fuel up” their anxiety about their health.

A. Let’s consider the real risks that can arise as a result of self-diagnosis and treatment.

1. Missing serious diseases. Many formidable diseases begin with simple and harmless symptoms. A person who assessed that he has banal fatigue, which allegedly arose from frequent stress and lack of vitamins in food, may miss the presence of cancer or diabetes. Modern medicine has achieved good success: that is, the earlier you start treatment, the better results you can get. Also, unfortunately, some online resources deliberately undermine the authority of medicine, devaluing the achievements of medicine and offering patients supposedly miraculous treatment. This approach of unscrupulous “healers” can lead to fatal consequences.
2. Getting complications. A person who has already been diagnosed with a disease by doctors may, after reading various information on the Internet, believe that he can independently make adjustments to the treatment prescribed by the doctor. Such self-activity can lead to complications of the disease. For example, the patient may think that he has the right to cancel some of the medications prescribed by the doctor. And this can result in dire consequences: the same hypertensive crisis, which can end in a stroke or heart attack.
3. Increased anxiety. The abundance of medical information on the Internet can confuse the patient, especially if this information becomes contradictory when comparing one resource with another. This makes the patient distrustful of doctors and frustrated. And this in most cases gives rise to anxiety in the patient.

B. Let’s look at how you can reduce the risks.
Fortunately, it’s not all that bad.

1. Develop the attitude that your doctor is your friend and ally.
2. Always clarify with your doctor the questions that concern you regarding your health. Otherwise, it happens that the patient completely relies on the doctor’s authority. The doctor is also an ordinary person and can make mistakes or miss something. You, as a patient, should always get a clear picture of your health condition as much as possible.
3. Carefully study the medical resource. Look at what topic the resource is designed for: it is logical that a site that covers only medical topics is more reliable than a site that writes about everything. Also look at who the author of the article is: does he have a specialized education and relevant experience or does he rely on relevant research.