If you are diagnosed with an illness that you might struggle with for a long time, the temptation of researching your own illness on your own time is endless. We all know the danger of ‘Googling your symptoms’ and being totally freaked out by what you find, but when you already know you have an illness, the ability to research this is both a blessing and a curse for many people.

There is no right or wrong way to deal with having an illness – it’s a totally personal process that others shouldn’t judge. But in this blog, we will explore the pros and cons of taking your research into your own hands. 

The Pros of Researching Your Illness

Let’s start with the positives, shall we? There are always positives to this argument, so let’s see what they might be.

1. You get to know a more intimate knowledge of your illness. No matter how many conversations you have with your doctor, this time is always limited. Appointments end and doctors have many patients to spend their time on. It can feel like you don’t have the full story of your illness in some cases, so there’s no shame in finding out more for yourself from responsible sources online. You can then use this information when you see your healthcare provider or book in for a more specific service such as Cleaner Ears.
2. You can help raise awareness of your illness. For many illnesses like fibromyalgia, there isn’t much conclusive research about how to effectively treat the symptoms. By researching or involving yourself in trials with Dr Dorian Wilkerson, you can help researchers fight to raise awareness and improve the lived experiences of people with the illness.
3. You can feel more in control. Having a chronic or serious illness can be very difficult because it can feel like you are out of control in your own body. Research and getting all the information possible can help you feel more autonomous as you navigate the illness day to day.

The Cons of Researching Your Own Illness

Of course, there are downsides to researching your own illness that you have. These include…

1. Increasing your fear and anxiety. By researching to the point where you are scaring yourself to death with the information you’re consuming, it can hurt your cause and purpose. Research is good when it informs you, but it can be negative when it makes you afraid or anxious about something that is already a sore point. 
2. Becoming obsessed. With the access everyone has to information these days, it is easy to become obsessed by researching your illness. If you lose sleep over it, making yourself nervous and exhausted, this is a bad path to go down. Your illness doesn’t define you, and by allowing this research to consume you, you will lose a part of yourself.

Final Thoughts

If you have recently been diagnosed with an illness and are tempted to get swamped in research, use this guide to make sure you are doing so in a healthy way.