Archive

Social media use towards self-diagnosing and health anxiety

Self-diagnosing occurs when individuals who are not medical professionals intrinsically establish themselves as living with a particular medical diagnosis. Self-diagnosing is becoming all the more prominent due to increasing communication about health, symptoms, and diagnoses online, namely on algorithmically-dominated social media platforms. While this can be an empowering process for individuals suffering from health issues, it can also perpetuate health anxiety. Users should carefully review health information which they consume on social media and online. / more