Many among us who turn to the internet for our imagined or real ailments could become a “Cyberchondriac”. This term describes a growing number of otherwise rational internet users who, when they present their symptoms to “Dr Google”, latch on to the worst “diagnosis” thrown back at them, reports The Independent.
“Cyberchondria has been around for almost a decade, but a recent study is the first to systematically investigate it.
“Eric Horvitz and Ryen White, scientists at Microsoft’s research division, analysed the internet behaviour of a million surfers around the world, and carried out a survey of more than 500 Microsoft employees, to discover how the internet is giving many of us an acute case of the heebie-jeebies…
“Why are so many of us so willing to believe the skewed result of web searches? One problem is laziness. A recent American study by the Pew Internet Project revealed that while eight in 10 of us use the internet to look for information about our health, about the same proportion – 75 per cent – do not check the source of that information or the date it was created. The rest comes down to psychology…
“Surely the only cure for cyberchondria is to steer well clear of the internet? Not according to Pauline Brimblecombe, a GP who works near Cambridge. She believes the internet has made patients ‘more interested in their own health and therefore more likely to look after themselves’. She adds: ‘If my patients Google something and come rushing in with bits of paper, at least I know what they’re worried about and can reassure them’.
“Horvitz, too, believes in the power of the web. ‘It’s an extraordinary resource for healthcare information,’ he says. ‘We’re talking about a stone with a rough edge here, not a fatal flaw’.” More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.