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Bacteria
If you suffer from health anxiety, much of the media and the internet are not your friends. Often called “hypochondria” or, more formally, “somatic symptom disorder,” this uncomfortable state of mind is common among folks who repeatedly seek care for symptoms without an identifiable medical cause. Several studies estimate up to 20% of those visiting ERs and primary and urgent care facilities suffer from health anxiety rather than a medical issue.
Being physically OK yet chronically anxious about one’s health earns the title “worried well,” but there are also folks who are the “worried sick.” They suffer a bonafide medical condition that they obsess over, sometimes for good reason. Either way, the modus operandi driving this mental malady is hypervigilance. The individual compulsively searches for, monitors and catastrophizes over aches, pains, unusual sensations or anything that seems “off” in the body.
Which is where the media comes in. While I can’t prove it, I suspect those with this issue are more anxious today than before the onset (or should I say onslaught) of the internet. Previously, there wasn’t easy access to articles, vids, cable news stories, online forums and social media posts focused on health and illness. And while some of this information, when reliable, provides a public health benefit by alerting people to risks they might otherwise overlook, much of it leans more on scare tactics and attention-grabbing than education.
Brain Eating Amoeba?
A case in point is news accounts of the so-called “brain eating amoeba,” technically known as Naegleria fowleri. Contrary to the headlines, this microbe doesn’t actually eat one’s brain but, rather, causes a severe form of meningitis that is usually fatal. But, hey, “brain eating” is guaranteed to grab our attention. Infection with this amoeba is exceedingly rare. However, whenever some poor soul acquires it, you hear about it. Should people know how to avoid contracting this infection? You bet, and that’s the upside of these news stories. However, how often do major threats to public health, like binge drinking and drunk driving, garner similar coverage? Rarely. At most, a half dozen Americans die from Naegleria fowleri every year, while over 140,000 succumb to excessive alcohol use, almost 40,000 die in vehicle accidents, and over 250,000 due to medical errors.
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But here’s the rub. News about a college kid drinking themselves to death, while tragic, doesn’t rev up anyone’s health anxiety. Accounts of a “brain eating amoeba” clearly do. What’s the difference? Perceived control. Alcohol is a visible risk I can intentionally avoid. I can drive defensively. I can choose my medical providers carefully. But Naegleria fowleri is an invisible risk that can lurk in freshwater lakes, poorly maintained pools and contaminated water supplies. By the way, you can’t catch it by drinking water. It must find its way well into your sinuses.
What’s obvious here is the tension between the need to know (public health) and the need to reduce chronic health anxiety (mental health). Sadly, many media sources, both professional and amateur, seem less interested in attending to either of these priorities than to amplifying their popularity and ratings, ergo revenue.
If you suffer health anxiety, it pays to limit your exposure to health-related content and be very persnickety about which information sources you trust. Surveys show many of us struggle to distinguish between bonafide online medical information and that which is patently false. In particular, internet forums, pseudo-expert websites, purveyors of various snake oils and conspiracy outfits do more to amp up one’s angst than quell it. What’s more, what they’re telling you is either flat out BS or without any supportive scientific evidence.
In most cases, health anxiety can be effectively treated. Regardless, it’s severity can be damped down by confining one’s information sources to those that honor science and truth over popularity or profit. And, even with trusted sources, access should be very limited. Don’t feed the anxiety with bad information or even too much good data. Both can be meat on anxiety’s table. Put it on a strict diet.
