I Keep Googling Symptoms and It’s Making My Anxiety Worse
Searching a symptom can feel like the quickest route to reassurance.
Searching a symptom can feel like the quickest route to reassurance.
You type a few words, open several results and hope one of them will explain why you do not need to worry. Instead, you discover a long list of possible conditions, frightening stories and increasingly specific searches.
An hour later, you may know far more medical terminology and feel much less certain than when you started.
Repeatedly searching health information online is one behaviour the NHS associates with health anxiety.
Search engines answer the words, not your individual medical question
Online information cannot examine you, take a history or understand your circumstances in the way an appropriately qualified healthcare professional can.
A list of conditions associated with a symptom is not a diagnosis and cannot tell you which explanation applies to you.
MH360 will not interpret those search results or tell you whether a symptom is serious.
Notice the search escalation
Health-anxiety searching often changes shape.
A broad search becomes “serious causes of…”, then “can doctors miss…”, then a forum story, then another symptom that seems to match.
The original question gradually becomes a search for complete certainty.
Ask yourself what would actually allow you to stop searching. If the answer is “being 100% certain nothing is wrong”, the internet is unlikely to provide it.
Make health information intentional rather than endless
If you need factual health information, use authoritative sources such as the NHS and follow advice from the healthcare professionals responsible for your care.
For anxiety-driven searching, notice when you are opening another result simply because the previous one did not make you feel certain enough.
You may find it useful to close the search, move to a planned activity and record the urge rather than immediately opening another page.
Do not replace Googling with asking MH360 the same medical question
Changing the destination does not necessarily change the reassurance cycle.
MH360 can explain health anxiety, worry and behaviours such as repeated searching. We cannot assess your symptom, interpret test results or tell you whether an illness is likely.
Questions about physical symptoms and medical conditions belong with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
When online searching is taking over
If you are losing sleep to symptom searches, repeatedly checking information throughout the day or finding that health research is affecting work, relationships or normal activities, consider support for the anxiety itself.
NHS Talking Therapies includes health anxiety, and adults in England can self-refer.
Getting help does not mean your physical health stops mattering. It means the worry behaviour deserves attention too.
Last reviewed
6 September 2026
Important health anxiety and medical information
This guide provides general information about health anxiety and mental wellbeing only. MH360 is not a medical diagnosis service and cannot assess physical symptoms, diagnose medical conditions, interpret medical tests or provide advice about whether a symptom may indicate a particular medical condition.
New, changing, persistent or concerning physical symptoms, questions about an existing medical condition, and concerns about medical tests or treatment should be discussed with your GP, NHS service or another appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Do not use this guide to decide whether a physical symptom needs medical assessment or to replace medical advice you have been given. If you are unsure whether a symptom needs medical attention, seek advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
If worry about your health is persistent, is taking over significant amounts of your time, or is affecting everyday life, speak to your GP or an appropriately qualified mental-health professional. Adults in England can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression, which includes support for health anxiety.
If you or somebody else is in immediate danger or there is a life-threatening emergency, call 999 or go to A&E.