This pain cannot simply be a bout of side stitches. And what does the strange tingling in your fingers mean?

Just a few clicks away on the internet await possible explanations for your symptoms, some of which can be very alarming. So now you are really worried.

This is a case of what has become known as cyberchondria. It is not a formal diagnosis, but an unfounded fear of, or heightened attention to, serious physical illnesses based on perusal of internet content, explains Dr Heiko Graf, director of the department of psychiatry and psychotherapeutic medicine at Germany’s Karlsruhe Municipal Hospital.

He says it can lead to depression or, at worst, illness anxiety disorder (IAD) – the now formal term for hypochondria – which is indeed a formal, recognised mental health diagnosis.

“Health anxiety has increased over the last 30 years, mainly among people under 35,” Graf says, explaining that this group uses the internet more often than older people do.

It is also developing at an earlier age, “when you’re more impressionable”, he adds.