Cyberchondria Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Management Strategies

Abstract

The corona-virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first found in Wuhan, China in December 2019, has posed an inexplicable threat to the global community. After its inception, the virus proliferated rapidly, which led to the cause of millions of deaths, and having a detrimental effect on physical health, social lives, economic uncertainty, and mental health of people. The World Health Organization has reported that there are 111 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2.45 million deaths due to COVID-19 worldwide. Indisputably, the present pandemic has contributed to the extensive psychological and environmental distress together with clinical depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), domestic violence, and unemployment. Due to the ambiguous nature of the pandemic, educational organizations, and outdoor activities are closed, thus burdening the mental health of younger populations. Children as well as youths are more glued to the Internet for their studies, online gaming, shopping, watching movies, and searching health-related information. Despite the advantages of using the Internet, it has some severe consequences too. Some people are repeatedly searching for physical and mental well-being related information without verifying credible sources, which, in turn, causes distress and anxiety. In such situations, individuals may end up contributing to an illness known as cyberchondria. In this paper, we have tried to highlight the problematic use of Internet for health-related searches and have outlined the management of such illness. We suggest two strategies: firstly, to reduce repeated online searches of health information and, secondly, to manage anxiety-augmenting thoughts that are triggered due to the maladaptive thoughts caused by the abstruse information.

Online Interactions and Problematic Internet Use of Croatian Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Although online health-related information and informative portal searches have some latent benefits that help to inform people about ailments and illnesses and their remedies and treatment [22], some people are repeatedly searching physical and mental well-being-related information. Children and young people often do not have enough prior knowledge and can hardly distinguish accurate from incorrect information and are therefore at a greater risk of developing some other mental health problems [23]. Although technology offers young people access to information and social connections, and it is important domain of their well-being, children can be exposed to harassments, cyberbullying, and encouragements to participate in activities that can cause physical harm or even death by using the Internet [24].…”

“…Problematic usage of the Internet is an umbrella term that includes all potentially problematic online behaviors like online gaming, online gambling, online shopping, addictive behaviors, online porn content, extensive social media usage, cyberbullying, cyberchondria, and other behaviors [21][22][23][24][25]. Cyberbullying and internet addiction are two of the most researched phenomena in the field of problematic usage of the Internet, but time spent online or excessive internet usage is also an important aspect of the problematic Internet usage of children and youth with an ongoing debate of experts in the field.…”

Cyberchondria, Fear of COVID-19, and Risk Perception Mediate the Association between Problematic Social Media Use and Intention to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine

“…Additionally, given the nascent research, the term 'cyberchondria' should be approached with caution and viewed as a preliminary diagnostic proposal needing further empirical exploration. The study's findings can be used by health experts, communicators, and policymakers when planning educational interventions such as interventional mapping and other initiatives in COVID-19 vaccination programs that may increase risk perception and/or decrease cyberchondria [55][56][57]. Future studies are needed to ascertain the role of other factors (e.g., religion) in acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination.…”

Desafíos para la gestión de la infodemia en salud en tiempos de COVID-19

“…La Internet y las redes sociales ofrecen múltiples oportunidades para que pacientes y el público en general puedan buscar información sobre temas de salud. Es más, muchas personas buscan información en estos medios digitales incluso antes de consultar con sus médicos o profesionales de salud, lo cual puede constituirse en un riesgo si es que la persona no tiene alfabetización en salud [7] .…”