Living with Dr. Google: The Perils of Self-Diagnosis in the Digital Age!
Explore the risks and revelations of self-diagnosis in today’s digital era, where every symptom can lead to a variety of conclusions.
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Since we hit that certain age bracket known as “more than middle-aged,” my wife and I have embarked on a relentless quest for knowledge. We’ve been reading everything. And I mean everything. From the back of shampoo bottles to the fine print on our insurance policies. If it’s written, we’ve probably read it.
I’ve always been a curious soul, but this newfound obsession? It’s like we’ve been bitten by the insatiable bug of midlife enlightenment. And let me tell you, it’s contagious.
But with this excessive reading comes a side effect I hadn’t anticipated. The Internet, with its endless stream of articles, TikToks, and Instagram reels, has become a diagnostic tool for my wife. Every symptom, every quirk, every idiosyncrasy I’ve ever displayed? There’s a condition for that.
Woke up groggy after a restless night? “Honey, I think you might have sleep apnea,” she’d say, showing me an article from a health blog.
Forgot where I put my keys? “It could be the early signs of Alzheimer’s,” she’d muse, pointing to a TikTok of a doctor discussing memory lapses.
And don’t even get me started on the time I zoned out during one of our binge-watching sessions. “ADHD,” she declared after viewing an Instagram reel about the signs of adult attention disorders.
Now, I’m all for being informed. Knowledge is power, after all. But there’s a fine line between being informed and turning every minor hiccup into a potential medical condition.
The other day, I found myself staring at a wall, lost in thought about… well, nothing in particular. My wife, ever the vigilant observer, nudged me. “Foggy brain,” she whispered, “Could be post-COVID. Or maybe it’s that ADHD acting up again.”
I chuckled. “Or maybe I’m just thinking about whether I should hang a picture on this wall.”
She squinted, “Or it could be a rare neurological condition where you’re drawn to walls. I read about it somewhere.”
