ESL Blogs

Are you the one who always checks out the Internet for medical advice for every symptom you have? Are you anxious why you have such symptoms only to find you’re not sick at all?  Then you might be a cyberchondriac! Cyber what???

Cyberchondriac is a combination of the word ‘cyber’ which is related to computers and the Internet (Macmillan Dictionary), and ‘hypochondriac’, a person who thinks he or she is sick but in reality he or she is well or does not have any serious illness. There are people who self-diagnose these days which often lead to mistreatment. Moreover, they worry too much which spoil their day.

Here’s a couple of example

1. Gren googled for hours searching for medical advice about his stomachache. Little did he know, he’s beginning to be a cyberchondriac. He has forgotten that he ate a lot of steaks and didn’t drink enough water. He’s just constipated!

2. Liz: “You’ve been glued to your computer for a long time, Von. What have you been reading about?”

    Von: “I’m looking for a solution for my headache. It’s killing me (Being over-reacting)!”

    Liz: “I think you have a headache because you spend too much time playing online games instead of getting enough sleep. You even forget to take your vitamins every day!  Stop being such a cyberchondriac.”

I hope you learned something about this term and not to worry too much about minor physical and mental discomfort. Stay healthy and live happily!