Researching health symptoms online is a prescription for anxiety

Researching our symptoms online or on health apps can increase stress levels and is ultimately self-defeating, discovers Margaret Jennings.

WORRIED about that lingering headache or that persistent cough?

Consulting Dr Google may not always be good for our health and in fact a design flaw in search engines means we usually get the worst-case scenario for our medical symptoms — regardless of how harmless they are — which raises our anxiety levels as a result.