Ever wondered how one health related post can make you feel like you have the disease the post is talking about?
Social media has made health information more accessible than ever.It has help spread awareness about many important conditions and encouraged people to take timely medical care.
But this awareness often turns into self diagnosis.
Once you engage with a health post your feedback is filled with symptoms checklist, recovery stories, management and videos linking common symptoms to serious illness.Before you know it a normal headache, tiredness, stomach ache starts feeling more serious than ever.
The reality is symptom alone is never a diagnosis.
Doctors consider many criteria before giving a confirm diagnosis which includes
- History
- Examination
- Allergy
- Risk factor
- Investigation
One should use social media to be informed but not to self diagnose.
Reminder -Your social media feed knows what you keep scrolling but it doesn’t know your medical history and diagnostic test.
Share cases where social media or the internet was wrong about the diagnosis
MBH/PS
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Well said. And it’s actually true, Social media starts feeding with all posts related to the symptom, for a normal headache, it might make you feel you have some serious illness.
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Yes. People should never believe social media blindly.
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Exactly
This is why everything has its pros and cons
Social media can not replace a experienced physician, As disease is not just group of symptoms. You need to examine system involved. Refer to medical history, diagnostic investigations and add personal intelligence or knowledge of medicine. Merely suspicion of having some symptom can not diagnose a condition.
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Self-diagnosis results in misinformation. It increases unnecessary health anxiety among viewers. One must only come to a conclusion after visiting a healthcare professional. A patient should understand and confirm their diagnosis from a healthcare professional
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Well said, we should not completely trust on social media just because it shows similar symptoms, medical history and diagnosis are more important .
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I’ve seen this from both sides!
As a clinician as well as someone who works in healthcare AI.
The irony is that social media “diagnosis” often has the visual pattern recognition right but the context completely wrong.
Someone sees a photo of mouth ulcers on Instagram, decides they have oral cancer, comes in terrified, when it’s actually a straightforward aphthous ulcer from stress.
The fear is real even when the diagnosis isn’t.
Which means we can’t just dismiss it, we have to meet patients where their information actually came from.
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Today, we cant deny the fact that everyone is following social media. The content usually appears due to continue scrolling and media feeding. But following blindly on social media is of great concern, particularly health issues. It is more appropriate to consult a doctor rather than social media.
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