Recent Insights Into Cyberchondria
- PDF / 357,729 Bytes
- 8 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 38 Downloads / 265 Views
ANXIETY DISORDERS (A PELISSOLO, SECTION EDITOR)
Recent Insights Into Cyberchondria Vladan Starcevic 1,2
&
David Berle 3,4 & Sandra Arnáez 5
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose of Review The construct of cyberchondria was introduced relatively recently. This article aims to review the conceptualization, theoretical basis and correlates of cyberchondria, as well as its prevention and management. Recent Findings Although there is no consensus, most definitions of cyberchondria emphasize online health research associated with heightened distress or anxiety. The two theoretical models of cyberchondria involve reassurance seeking and specific metacognitive beliefs. Cyberchondria has relationships with health anxiety, problematic Internet use and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, with public health implications pertaining to functional impairment and altered healthcare utilization. Suggestions about prevention and management of cyberchondria have been put forward, but not tested yet. Summary Research interest in cyberchondria has steadily increased. It is uncertain whether cyberchondria can be considered a distinct entity. Future research should aim to clarify the conceptual status of cyberchondria, quantify its impact and develop evidence-based approaches for a better control of cyberchondria. Keywords Cyberchondria . Online health research . Reassurance seeking . Health anxiety . Problematic Internet use . Compulsivity
Introduction The concept of cyberchondria has an interesting 20-year history. There is some controversy as to where the term first appeared and to whom it can be attributed: the main contenders are a 1999 Wall Street Journal article and a 2001 article published in The Independent, but others also occasionally pop up [1]. Regardless of who coined the term This article is part of the Topical collection on Anxiety Disorders * Vladan Starcevic [email protected] 1
Discipline of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney Medical School, Nepean Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
2
Department of Psychiatry, Nepean Hospital, PO Box 63, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
3
Graduate School of Health, Discipline of Clinical Psychology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia
4
University of New South Wales, School of Psychiatry, Sydney, NSW, Australia
5
Facultad de Psicología, Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
cyberchondria, it is certain that its creator was not a mental health clinician or researcher. Cyberchondria was introduced in the context of the early days of the Internet, at the time of an increasing interest in the “negative side” of this new and revolutionary information and communication medium. There was much fascination with the newspaper stories depicting cases of “Internet addiction” and other novel Internet-related afflictions, often with a sensationalist slant. Therefore, it is not surprising t
Data Loading...
