Hypochondriacs Go Online, Invent Another Illness

Take some old-fashioned hypochondria, add a dollop of obsessive compulsive behavior, mix with the internet and -- voila! -- cyberchondria:

"Cyberchondria can be a terrible, devastating disease in the sense that the individual focuses on nothing other than checking their symptoms on the Internet and it destroys their lives," he said.

As a warning, take Lee Gardon, a "recovering cyberchondriac" who spent up to four hours a day looking up symptoms, at one point convincing himself that he had multiple sclerosis:

His cyberchondria got so bad, he would obsess in the middle of the night and get out of bed and check more of his symptoms. The man who once had passions for running and wind surfing had transformed into someone who would map out hospital locations and the quickest ways to get there in case of an emergency.

"[It was] very, very painful, because he was unreachable," said Gardon's wife, Laura Reyes. "He was really unreachable."

For Cyberchondriacs, the Internet Is the Enemy [ABC News]

Image: Michael Titus*