cyberchondria
/ˌsaɪbə(ɹ)ˈkɒndɹi.ə/
cyberchondria means anxiety concerning one's health, caused by visiting medical websites. It carries an Arena rating of 1338, earned across 23 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cyberchondria ranks #150 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #2,167 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,261 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #3,481 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
cyberchondria is pronounced /ˌsaɪbə(ɹ)ˈkɒndɹi.ə/.
Why “cyberchondria” is a great word
A state of health anxiety specifically triggered or amplified by compulsive online searches for medical information, blending 'cyber-' (relating to computers or the internet) and 'hypochondria' (excessive anxiety about one's health). Unlike hypochondria, which names a timeless human preoccupation, or nosophobia, which denotes a focused dread of a single disease, cyberchondria describes the spiraling, diffuse panic born of the infinite diagnostic echo chamber. It is the glow of a screen at 3 a.m., the cascading tabs linking common symptoms to rare fatalities, and the cold dread that blooms with each new search—the mind's own autoimmunity, attacking its sense of well-being with weapons of limitless information.
Etymology
Blend of cyber- + hypochondria.
noun
- Anxiety concerning one's health, caused by visiting medical websites.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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