Cyberchondria

Abstract

Abstract Cyberchondria is characterized by excessive online searching for health information and/or digital self‐tracking which is strongly associated with health anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, obsessive‐compulsive symptoms, and dysfunctional meta‐cognitive beliefs. To date, it is unclear if individuals with cyberchondria suffer from excessive health‐related online searching behavior only or also from other forms of Internet use disorders. There seems to be a link between cyberchondria and health literacy, defined as perceived skills at finding, evaluating, and applying (online) health information. However, this interconnection has hardly been investigated so far. When it comes to recognizing symptoms of cyberchondria, the “Cyberchondria Severity Scale” has been developed and validated. However, no standardized diagnosis criteria and threshold values have been established yet. Thus, no reliable epidemiological data for cyberchondria is available to date. Treatment should address the maladaptive health‐ or illness‐related assumptions and beliefs by using existing, well‐established approaches for hypochondria. Furthermore, it should target the problematic Internet use and enable individuals with cyberchondria to reflect on their subjective eHealth literacy and promote a functional use of online health resources and tools.