Who (and what) influences your health?
3. Surf the Internet (with caution)
If your first instinct upon seeing a rash on your arm or feeling a headache coming on is to race to the computer and Google it, you may have “cyberchondria,” a term first coined in 2001.
Cyberchondria can be dangerous, resulting in misdiagnosed conditions, delayed treatments, quack cures or worry regarding worst-case scenarios, not to mention stress, anxiety and depression that can make you feel even sicker.
If you know what you’re doing, though, conducting medical research online can actually be quite helpful. Look for websites sponsored by the U.S. government (ending in .gov), not-for-profit health or medical organizations (.org) and university medical centers (.edu). Avoid for-profit websites, like drug or insurance companies trying to sell you something. And always check the date; keep searching if it’s more than a year or two old.
Web searches are also a good way to find daily workouts, healthy recipes, inspirational blogs and online forums that connect people with similar lifestyle interests or medical conditions.
You can get health information from the comfort of your home and use that information to solve minor health issues or get advice about where to turn next.
A lot of incorrect health information exists on the Internet, so you need to be prudent about finding reliable resources and resist the urge to seek out information that just supports what you want to hear.