Hyperdiagnosis: Nosophobia and the Rise of Health Anxiety among Medical Students in the Age of Social Media and Artifical Intelligence

Abstract

Widespread availability of health-related information via social media and artificial intelligence tools is contributing to an emerging pattern of hyperdiagnosis. Individuals, particularly medical students, develop heightened health anxiety and excessive fear of illness despite the absence of clinical disease. Nosophobia, which is a part of Medical Student Syndrome, is worsened by digital symptom-checking and constant exposure to disease content on social media.