Dangerous new health condition is costing the NHS more than £420m

A growing number of Britons are suffering from a health condition fuelled by overusing the internet, experts have warned. 

The ease of online medical self-diagnosis has given rise to what’s called cyberchondria—concern, that has stemmed online from consulting ‘Dr Google’, they claimed. 

Similar to hypochondria—a type of anxiety that sees people frequently worry about their health even when nothing is seriously wrong—the condition is said to be a product of obsessing over health that escalates into anxiety.

In 2023, British adults made nearly 50 million health-related Google searches alone. 

Further research shows two in five people end up diagnosing themselves with a serious disease after using Googling their symptoms. 

While increased awareness and vigilance can have huge benefits in catching illness early, there is a flip-side, experts say.  

Health anxiety is estimated to cost the NHS more than £420 million a year, and left unchecked it can become debilitating or even dangerous. 

Mark Burdon, a pharmacist and adviser to the Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB), which represents companies making over-the-counter medicines, said: ‘Cyberchondria, or illness anxiety disorder, is a real challenge which is characterised by excessive online searches for health information. 

‘This can lead to people persuading themselves that their headache is really a brain tumour, or indigestion is an imminent heart attack.’ 

Professor David Veale, a consultant psychiatrist at two London hospitals and the co-author of Overcoming Health Anxiety, also told The Telegraph: ‘In the past you would go to encyclopaedias or family friends, or go off to see various doctors or alternative practitioners.

‘But nowadays it’s just so easy to get it all on the internet in seconds.

‘The problem is, of course, that the more information we get, the more likely we are to read things that are ambiguous and create further doubts.’

While cyberchondria is still a colloquial term rather than a medical definition, researchers are beginning to take it more seriously. 

A 2018 study by Florida State University found that the practice was associated with ‘increased functional impairment and healthcare utilisation’ compared to health anxiety in its more traditional form, and ‘may pose a significant public health burden.’ 

Certain people are more vulnerable to cyberchondria specifically, such as those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). 

One 2023 review of cyberchondria as ‘a growing concern’ questioned whether the habit of searching symptoms should be classified as a behavioural addiction, like gambling, shopping or pornography. 

Another recent study, published in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry, analysed more than 50 reports of cyberchondria worldwide. 

The scientists, from four different countries including the UK and Australia, concluded: ‘Given the increasingly widespread use of the Internet and the potential negative effects of online health searches, cyberchondria is likely to represent an increasing public health burden.’

It comes as a report in July also found ‘cyberchondria’ was a key factor in the rise of young people accessing medical care when their conditions could have been treated at home. 

PAGB discovered Gen Zs and millennials are three-times more likely than adults aged 65 and over to seek a GP appointment for a minor health problem.

Their report also revealed that almost one in ten of those aged 18 to 24 have tried to get a doctor’s appointment for a blocked nose compared to just 3 per cent of over-65s.

Trust in social media and ‘cyberchrondria’ was ‘likely’ behind the surge among younger adults, PAGB said. 

It also claimed it had tracked an ‘alarming decline’ in Brits’ capacity to treat minor ailments themselves in recent years, with the percentage of people who feel confident to self-care for the common cold plummeting from 81 per cent in 2023 to 63 per cent in 2025.

One in ten admitted they would attend A&E for minor health issues.  

‘There is a disparity in the willingness of consumers to self-care versus the actions that they are taking in reality,’ PAGB chief executive Michelle Riddalls, said. 

‘We need to see initiatives such as a national public awareness campaign, delivered at regular intervals, to improve peoples’ understanding of self-care and the pathways they can take.’