Need support - googling compulsion

I literally deleted web browsers and google from my phone. I've been wanting to minimalize my phone anyway and this was the push I needed.

I can really relate to this one. My health OCD had been fairly quiet for awhile but then, a few days ago, I ended up calling 911 because I slept weird and both my right arm and right leg fell asleep and Google tried to convince me I was having a stroke. I give myself a sticker on my calendar for every day I don't Google, that was my idea and it's not perfect but it does help. My therapist and I also talked about distracting myself with other things, trying not to worry about symptoms that are improving, writing a worst case scenario script and trying to get bored with the most feared outcome... I know it's easy but best of luck!

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Hey! I personally don't struggle with googling as a compulsion so my advice may be useless but if you generally google on your phone there are ways to set time limits on apps. You can also try to set a timer for an hour (or whatever seems achievable) and slowly increase the time and/or sit with the discomfort in that time (I think that is what exposure therapy is but you could probably try it yourself I don't know) and/or if there is a friend you trust you can text them all of your questions and just tell them not to respond

I'm the exact same. It's so exhausting! What I usually do is type in "*health fixation* ocd reddit*" so I can read stories of people who have ocd and are struggling with the same health fears as me. It feeds the googling compulsion but also leads me to know I'm not alone and feel less scared. Not a perfect strategy, but better than using Google as a doctor

If you can’t stop looking, try delaying looking. Even if it’s only for a few seconds. Then wait a minute, then 5 minutes. Delaying is a way to help get control over your compulsion.

I have the same problem, I am currently dealing with alot of health things and one thing I can absolutely say is, Google does NOT help. I tell myself that if I look it up and know more about it, then I’ll feel better. But then once I get the reassurance, I need more because it’s not satisfying enough to hear that it basically makes sense what I’m going through and there CAN be an explanation. I need an actual explanation and Google will just throw out scary scenarios or show me that “some people never get better” every time. And nothing makes me spiral like that.