cyberchondria

English

Etymology

Blend of cyber- +‎ hypochondria

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsaɪbə(ɹ)ˈkɒndɹi.ə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

cyberchondria (uncountable)

1. Anxiety concerning one's health, caused by visiting medical websites.

   Synonym: (rare) compucondria

   • 2016 October 3, Tad Friend, quoting Connie Gibstine, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker‎^[1]:

     [Sam] Altman’s mother, a dermatologist named Connie Gibstine, told me, “Sam does keep an awful lot tied up inside. He’ll call and say he has a headache—and he’ll have Googled it, so there’s some cyber-chondria in there, too.

   • 2021 March 29, Natalie Grover, “Looking up health symptoms online less harmful than thought, study says”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Using “Dr Google” for health purposes is controversial. Some have expressed concerns that it can lead to inaccurate diagnoses, bad advice on where to seek treatment (triage), and increased anxiety (cyberchondria).

Related terms

• cyberchondriac

See also

• Doctor Google