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There's also Google's echo-chamber problem. Think about the fractured political landscape we live in, where meat-munching Red Staters can punch in "Obama's a Muslim," while patchouli-scented libertarians can type up "Bush did 9/11," and both can be validated with pages giving them "evidence" for whatever they'd like to see. "Google is extremely good at giving you what you want," says Epstein. "They're doing more customized rankings, they're getting better at knowing who you are. It's a feel-good experience."Consider the person genuinely searching for a "mental health test" on Google. They're not in a great place to consider their prejudices. "Some of them are on the verge of suicide," says Epstein. "They don't have the skills, and certainly not the stamina. They are the people least capable at that particular point in time, and they need help the most." And even if they're going through an up phase, that doesn't mean they should be administering self-tests. "People looking at a bunch of numbers are likely to misinterpret the results."The internet is the biggest source of misinformation about mental health that has ever been created.—Dr. Robert Epstein
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However, the relationship between the internet and mental health isn't all bad. Jarvis, for example, thinks patients are smart to study a quick overview of symptoms before going into a therapy session. "Anybody arming themselves with mental health knowledge is being a smart consumer," says Jarvis. "Information is not sacrosanct."More and more people in desperate need are turning to the internet in the hopes that the search results will unveil some great truth about what's wrong with them.
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