The decision

This chapter asks you to decide something. It comes late because at the start it would have sounded like being told to stop worrying about your health, which nobody can do on instruction. By now you've seen that a search can't tell you what you have or rule anything out, and that the calm it gives lasts hours at most. You've seen that it tends to end at the frightening answer because of how searching works, whatever the state of your body. And you've seen that the safe thing to do with a symptom is quicker than the search ever was.

Here's the rule I'd suggest. Put it in your own words if you like.

When a symptom worries me, I look once, at one trusted page, to find out what to do. Then I do it, and I put the search down.

It has five parts, and each answers a chapter.

Emergencies go to a person. If it might be life-threatening, I call 999. If I'm not sure, I call 111 or use 111 online. I don't search first.

One page, read for the instruction. I open the NHS page and nothing else. I find out whether to get help now, see a GP, or wait until a date. I don't read the list of rare causes.

The instruction gets written down with a date. I put it in my calendar. If the page says see someone, I book it at the next opportunity.

One look per symptom. I look again only if the symptom itself changes. I stay off forums, I don't open a second page, and I don't search in bed.

After an appointment, I follow what the doctor said to watch for. I ask what to look out for and when to come back, I write it down, and I use it to answer the thought that something was missed.

It helps to plan for the moments when the habit will try to restart. Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran pooled ninety-four tests of plans in the form "when X happens, I'll do Y" and found that they make people more likely to follow through. A plan like this works because you've decided what to do before the difficult moment comes. Three are worth writing down.

When I notice a new sensation, I'll wait until the next morning before I do anything about it, unless it could be an emergency.

When I get the urge to search a symptom I've already looked up, I'll read what I wrote in my calendar. Then I'll wait twenty minutes in another room.

When I catch myself on a second page, I'll close the browser, put a mark on the card, and put the phone in the kitchen.

I'll be honest about what to expect, and this is my expectation and not a finding. The first week or two will probably be harder than searching was. You'll be doing without the dip, and the anxiety will have nowhere quick to go. You'll lie there at eleven with the twitch and a date in the calendar, and it won't feel like enough. The urge generally weakens over a few weeks if you don't act on it, though I can't promise you how fast.

You'll still notice symptoms, because that's how you're made, and some will still alarm you. What should change is what happens next. The noticing should lead to a four-minute look and an instruction. It shouldn't lead to a lost night. If it doesn't change after an honest few weeks, that's no failure on your part. It means the habit needs more help than a book can give, and the next chapter says where to get it.