People concerned about developing serious medical conditions may stir needless anxiety and confusion by running observed symptoms through Internet search engines and online self-diagnostics. A recent study suggests that the rise of Internet symptom checkers has brought with it a new brand of hypochondria – cyberchondria. Psy–chologists now warn that the condition not only triggers unneces–sary stress, but also stands to exacerbate existing symptoms by delaying proper care.

　　由于担心自己患上了重病，人们会通过互联网搜索察觉到的症状并进行线上自我诊断，而这可能激发不必要的焦虑和困惑。一项研究表明，使用网络自诊病情的人越来越多，而这意味着一种新的疑病症——网络疑病症的出现。心理学家现在警告说：这种疑病症不仅会引起不必要的压力，还会耽误恰当的治疗进而使当前的病情加剧。

　　Published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, the new study describes cyberchondria as a vicious circle that often serves to perpetuate anxiety as well as ailments. For some, the fear of developing a serious illness gives rise to an unbearable uncertainty that feeds on continuous online self-diagnosis. According to lead author Thomas Fergus of Baylor University, this fear-based uncertainty subsequently grows worse as people discover new conditions associated with their perceived symptoms.　　　　　　　　　　　

　　这项刊登在《网络心理学、行为和社交网络》期刊上的研究认为，网络疑病症是一种常会导致长期焦虑和疾病的恶性循环。对一些人来说，担忧自己患上重病会导致令人无法忍受的不确定性，从而引发持续的线上自我诊断。该研究的作者、贝勒大学的托马斯•费格斯认为，当人们发现察觉到的症状有新情况出现时，这种因忧虑引发的不确定性会随之愈发严重。

　　“If I’m someone who doesn’t like uncertainty, I may become more anxious, search further, monitor my body more, go to the doctor more frequently - and the more you search, the more you consider the possibilities,” he said in a press release. “If I see a site about traumatic brain injuries and have difficulties tolerating uncertainty, I might be more likely to worry that’s the cause of the bump on my head.”

　　“如果我是一个不喜欢不确定性的人，我可能变得更加焦虑，做进一步的调查，更多地关注自己的身体，更频繁地去看医生——调查做得越多，你就会越多地考虑自己患上重病的可能性，”他在一场新闻发布会上指出。“如果我浏览过一个创伤性脑损伤方面的网站，并且不能容忍不确定性，那么我更有可能会担心创伤性脑损伤就是自己脑部肿块的原因。”

　　To investigate the prevalence of cyberchondria, the re-searchers conducted interviews with 512 healthy adults. The participants were asked whether sentiments like “I always want to know what the future has in store for me” and “I spend most of my time worrying about my health” aligned with their personal attitudes. Aside from health anxiety and online searches, the study also evaluated a participant’s intolerance of uncertainty (IU).

　　为了调查网络疑病症的患病率，研究者们对512位健康的成年人进行了访谈。访谈对象被问到“我总是想知道自己的未来是什么样的”和“我大部分时间都在担心自己的健康状况”这类论题是否与他们的个人态度相一致。除了对健康焦虑感和线上搜索病情进行调查外，这项研究还评估了他们无法忍受不确定性的程度。

　　“The relationship between the frequency of Internet searches for medical information and health anxiety grew increasingly stronger as IU increased,” the researchers concluded. “These results suggest that IU is important for better understanding the exacerbation of health anxiety in response to Internet searches for medical information.”

　　“当无法忍受不确定性的程度上升时，线上搜索医疗信息的频率和健康焦虑感之间的关系就变得愈加牢固了，”研究者总结说。“这些结果表明，无法忍受不确定性有着重要作用，有助于我们更好地理解为何上网搜索医疗信息会加剧健康焦虑感。＂

原文连接：www.medicaldaily.com

安昊  选译（转自：英语沙龙）