Google is not a doctor

[Cimi]

i have seen lately that most of us google symptoms and worsen our mood or mental state.personally it made me worse as i developed everything i was reading. lets bring in ideas how can we do something about it.lets start an anti google campaign in every anxiety forum we can for example.

[ab123]

I think Google should ban people who obsessively google illnesses. I am very guilty of this. People ask me what's wrong with them because they know I am an expert googler.

[FK123]

I wish there was a google blocker on my computer! I try to hold myself back but cant resist. Simple but wise words- google is NOT a doctor! If it was, it would be a very bad one...everyone in the world would have cancer if it was based on google's diagnosis of things

[Ponder]

Doctors actually use Google themselves and I think more of them should. :)

[rhar]

Doctors actually use Google themselves and I think more of them should. :)

I think if my dr was using google I'd be finding a new Dr!!!

[AliasEQ]

Haha. If my doc was using google, I'd be having everything from cancer to a heart attack right now xD

[El Lukio]

You all know I'm a Google self-diagnoser! I fucking hate it...it makes me feel like shit but I can't stop doing it. Think all of us who suffer health related anxiety and OCD should make a pact NOT to Google our symptoms, which in most part are brought on by our anxiety. It's one big viscous circle.

[Ponder]

Doctors are way overrated. That was my point. Nothing wrong with Google, but the discernment that goes into it
Google is the only good thing about the internet. If using something hurts, then don't,t cling to it?

[Dahila]

I think if my dr was using google I'd be finding a new Dr!!!
How would you know that he is using google:)))

[Dahila]

Doctors are way overrated. That was my point. Nothing wrong with Google, but the discernment that goes into it
Google is the only good thing about the internet. If using something hurts, then don't,t cling to it?

Without google and checking my doc prescription I would be dead for over ten years:)))

[jessed03]

Without google and checking my doc prescription I would be dead for over ten years:)))

Dr Google :)

http://i61.tinypic.com/34o4x7r.jpg

[JoeCool]

Dr Google :)
Classic! I'm not a doctor but I can play one if I'm on Google!

[Dahila]

Dr Google :)

http://i61.tinypic.com/34o4x7r.jpg
I am allergic to a lot of meds, and she is giving them to me;)))))))))))) I like the post

[Scdg17]

Oof. A couple points I'd like to make on this one. These are obviously just my opinions.

-I think google is more good than bad depending on how you use it.
-You can't believe everything you read online.
-I trust myself on google more than a doctor. Side note: I haven't had a primary care physician in 5 years after a series of being misdiagnosed and over prescribed several times. And wasting thousands of dollars in the process.
-When I do my own research I search for scientific evidence and clinical trials. NOT personal testimonials because those are usually the bad reviews. For example: I was interested in more naturals ways to boost my serotonin. So I researched the chemical effects of prescribed antidepressants vs natural mood boosters (St. Johns Wort and 5htp.) After my extensive research I decided to go natural bc first of all there were less side effects, cheaper, easier to get, and a lot less to lose. And i started to notice a difference after a week. Maybe placebo but nevertheless Thank you google!

Look, we all are or have the potential to be intelligent individuals. I understand everyone has their own experiences. This is just mine. Blindly searching the Internet for symptoms and diseases needs to be done judiciously. You shouldn't believe everything you read online. If you have a good doctor whom you trust and is actually helping you, then by all means stick with them. Our society dictates that doctors should know more than us and we should trust them but I think we shouldn't be so naive as to think they are all-knowing.
Everything in moderation and with common sense.

[raggamuffin]

You don't need an anti Google campaign. you need to be able to accept it's anxiety and not some disease or underlying issue. So put in the word anxiety before ever symptom you Google.

It'll help you piece together how many symptoms anxiety can cause.

Ed

[GeneAllen]

Doctors are way overrated. That was my point. Nothing wrong with Google, but the discernment that goes into it
Google is the only good thing about the internet. If using something hurts, then don't,t cling to it?

I'm with ya Dave.

Google is one thousand times more helpful than a single doctor. As far as those reading the symptoms though, they indeed need to understand this is information to them not knowledge. Knowledge is found in practice like these places lhere where we have one hundred of years of knowing what works and what don't. We know our bodies better than a quack, but then again we overestimate our knowledge about medical terminology too when on google and there we have the issue, if you're googling too much, stop it. You will get confused until properly educated from the bottom up. Well maybe? LOL Peace y'all

[GeneAllen]

Love the image Jesse :)

I have to disagree with Ponder as far as the UK is concerned.

I feel it's not a case of doctors being overrated (I know several on a personal level) and many have studied and trained for a minimum of 7-9 years, on top of 80 hour weeks dealing with situations many of us would never wish to face.

I realise many people are often frustrated with meds and diagnosis, but I do feel that (rather than being overrated) we actually expect too much of them. They can only do what is within their (well educated) knowledge and experience as a flawed human being.

I think it's easy (and quite wrong) to think we gain as much information from the internet as a GP can give.

But in reality "google self diagnosis" is a doctors nemesis and bane of their existence. (Certainly the ones I know anyhow)

As far as 80 hours a week I agree, however doctors candidates stop learning after 40 hours of stress, maybe 20 hours. This is part of the problem, you see docs are human beings, this will shock some, but yes they get anxious depressed, agoraphobic, anemic, flu, and all this. Learning as well as progress stops when the body/mind are too tired.
Just because one studies 24 hours a day, for 8 years has no meaning. Time is irrelevant to an extent. Peace Oh and yes, this is my opinion, and I am not a doctor, but I have played one on google too. Prefer web md though.

[Scdg17]

Boom. Forwells nailed it. So happy to be in the age of awareness and consciousness.

[GeneAllen]

This is the whole problem .

I do agree that we see doctors often as non humans but i also think that many see themselves as gods and believe that they know it all and no one else can have the information that they have .

The simply fact is that someone that chooses to train , lets say a psychologist would have maybe a few weeks at best in training in anxiety . But a doctor might have a few days unless they show a special interest . Lets say they train for 10 years , how many problems do they train for in that ten years , 100 , 1000 .

The simply fact is that if i am being charged $300 a hour to see someone then i think that it is my god given right to be given answers . If those answers are not forthcoming then i deserve that right as a human to be treated with respect and not content . If a doctor can not do their job i do not have a problem with this , what i do have a problem is the refusal to see there own limits and refer onto someone that may be of more help .

I would not expect a plumber to come into my house and charge me for not doing anything and i sure as hell dont like it from doctors .

I am afraid to say that there are people here that know way more than any doctor does and the sad state is because they think they know it all then these people will always know better .

If there is one thing my father taught me it is that you will never know everything , i think a lot of doctors miss the point of this . What we know about the human brain is very little and most of this was learned only in the last 20 years . Maybe its time they start to listen instead of assuming . I mean they dont have that good of a record dealing with the brain and its workings over all . It was only a 100 years ago that they thought the bumps on your skull cause mental illness .

A general doctor knows very little , yes they know a lot but only very little about everything .

It is simply to state that google is bad , that it is nasty , that it harms doctors and this may be the case in some. But the simply matter is that doctors are paid by the people that see them and it is these people that have the vested interested in there health . It is their right to question doctors , to ask for answers and to make doctors accountable for their actions . It is the patients right to be giving answers and when it comes down to it it is the failure on doctors behalf that is sending these people on line .

Doctors , in fact anyone treating mental health can not on one hand say that you need to educate yourself about your condition and then on the other hand belittle you for doing it .

If i was a doctor i would be recommending people take control of their health problems , that they do in fact research . But i would also add that if you have any questionings or you want to double check anything then let me know . Honestly the way some doctors act is it any wonder that people are moving away from them and have such a distrust of them .

I like it! Great Forwells Thank you
Peace

[Applecherry]

Well, I try not to use it for looking up illnesses, I use it mostly to research anxiety and depression..I've read so many articles on both, it's not funny. :p

[SSMommy]

If it wasn't for Google and 'anxiety' I would most likely be dead right now. It's not an exaggeration. It's the honest truth of the last two years of my life and the long line of oversight by a slew of doctors. I will keep googling every single thing that a doctor tells me and triple checking their information.

Doctors are human.... Overworked humans. They make mistakes. I sure as hell trust myself with my own health more than I do anyone else.

The thought often has went through my mind. Would they prescribe this same line of treatment or suggestion to their child or themselves? If not then they aren't thinking deeply enough about the problem presenting itself.