All hypochondriacs know the number one rule: DON’T EVER GOOGLE YOUR SYMPTOMS. You will be promptly informed you are dying and they will email you a code for 20% off a coffin measuring consultation. Now though, apps that specialise in diagnosis can be accessed through your phone and inform you of your fate or you can track steps, heart rate, sleep health and many other physical signifiers.
Many people across the country are suffering from post-Covid anxiety, with two years of ill health being at the forefront of the global consciousness this can hardly be a surprise. This has been combined with growing fears about clogging the NHS leading people to want to find ways to diagnose themselves. Diagnosis apps fill this role completely. But for those who worry about health they can be a source of plenty more anxiety.
Many people across the country are suffering from post-Covid anxiety
I have had every app that purports to have any kind of insight into the workings of my body. Including one that claimed to calculate your heart rate if you placed your finger over the camera. Symptoms are a complicated beast and hard to quantify into an algorithm like these apps attempt to. This, on top of the fact one of the main symptoms of hypochondria is physical sensations imitating those of your chosen ailment, leads the results to possible inaccuracy that causes more harm than good.
While the apps and googling may work for some, those with any kind of health anxiety should break up with them for good.