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When you start to experience a change in your health it can be tempting to Google it and avoid going to the doctor all together. The Internet makes it easy to get medical information quickly but as a disabled person who has many health challenges, I don’t think it’s smart to use it to google your disability or diagnose yourself when your sick. If you are in school and need a medical fact I think it’s fine but if you are not feeling well and using it as a substitute to avoid going to the doctor it can be dangerous. If I need a statistic for my blog I sometimes google it but I have never googled my disability or self-diagnosed myself when I am struggling. I live with a disability so I don’t think I need to do a bunch of google searches to learn more about it because I will figure it out and the things I don’t my doctors will educate me on. There are many reasons why I am not for googling my disability or self-diagnosing myself and in this post, I will talk about a few of them.
Some things I don’t want to know- There are a lot of challenges that come with Spina Bifida and if you went around reading about your disability constantly it would make you crazy because literally, any part in your body can malfunction at any time. I am aware of some of the health challenges that my disability could bring but I don’t go around reading about all the challenges of Spina Bifida because sometimes you just want a break for your disability. I honestly would rather be surprised with health issues because just thinking about it all makes me anxious. There are a number of things that you could struggle with when you have Spina Bifida but it doesn’t necessarily mean you will have difficulty with all of them. Worrying about things that have not happened yet is kind of silly because they may never happen so save your stress for something else! I am well aware of all the challenges of my disability but I don’t wake up living fear! Focus on what you are currently experiencing and worry less about things that have not happened yet because they may never happen.
It can cause unncessary anxiety-People often use Google to look up their symptoms before even considering going to the doctor but the problem is the Internet often tells you the worst-case scenario. Google may say that joint pain is stage four bone cancer and that you only have three weeks to live but your doctor disagrees and says it’s only arthritis. For the purposes of this post I looked up hip replacement with Spina Bifida to see what kind of things people were saying and I am glad I did that after surgery. I couldn’t find any positive outcomes but all I could find was how horrible it was and that it was basically going to ruin your life. I am glad I read that after surgery because if I would have read it before I think I would have chosen to live in pain. I already had more anxiety than I normally would because I had to trust a new surgeon and that would not have convinced me. Hip replacement is not recommended for people with Spina Bifida unless it’s absolutely necessary but sometimes it is in order to feel better. Reading about how much of a failure a surgery doesn’t really make you want to do it. My best advice if you are considering any kind of surgery is to not google it because someone will always have something negative to say about it that will make you question if it’s the right decision. If you have a lot of anxiety prior to a medical procedure talk to your surgeon and learn everything you can about the procedure or find someone you know who has experienced it. It’s normal to get anxious about a medical but you don’t need to be overly anxious because a lot of the stuff you read online may not even be relevant to your specific case. The internet tends to cause extreme panic sometimes for no reason so if you are struggling stay off Google until you know what is causing you pain!
It’s just a stifle- The internet sometimes tells that there is no hope and you might as well say your goodbyes because you have a week to live but a lot of the time the opposite is true. Sometimes the internet will say that you have a common cold and not to worry when you definitely should not be brushing off your symptoms. People often will not go to the doctor if the internet tells them it’s the common cold and not to worry but if you have doubts about your health it can never hurt to get it checked out. It’s always better to get something diagnosed sooner rather than later because if you wait until it’s progressed too much there may be nothing doctor can do.
I don’t google my disability or self-diagnosis myself when I am having a medical problem because there is so much information online that you can’t trust every Facebook article you read. There is so much information online that is medically incorrect but it sounds like it could be totally legit. When you are not a doctor it can be hard it tell the difference between what is true and what isn’t because there is so much that sounds like it could be true. If I don’t know a medical statistic off the top of my head and need it for my blog I may google it but for the most part, I don’t google my disability or any new symptoms I may have because it’s not authentic and the internet doesn’t know your history like your doctor does. You will only get the worst-case scenario if you rely on self-diagnosis but if you actually go to your doctor you might get something different. The Internet is great for connecting with people all over the world but I personally wouldn’t use it to read up on my disability or diagnose any health challenges I may have. I have doctors that will keep me informed about my health and who wants to read about their disability in their spare time? I know I sure don’t because as passionate as I am about my disability I do occasionally need a break from it. If you have concerns about your health go to your doctor and get it diagnosed because it may be nothing but it could be serious and it’s always better to catch things sooner rather than later. Medical conditions often can be treated and sometimes cured if you catch them early but if you wait until it’s progressed too much a lot of the time it’s too late and there is nothing that can really be done so your just stuck with it. What are your thoughts on googling your disability and diagnosing yourself?
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