Mohl's disease

Mohl's disease ( lat. Morbus = "disease") is a slang term for hypochondria , which was particularly influenced by media reporting. There is no independent medical disease of this name.

The name refers to Hans Mohl (1928–1998), the presenter of the television program “ Health Magazine Practice ”. The program was broadcast monthly on ZDF from 1964 to 2004 . In the programs, the focus was often on disease prevention and early detection of diseases , especially cancer screening examinations . On the day after the broadcast, many doctors observed an increased number of patients in their practice who had discovered and described the symptoms described in the respective broadcast.

The phenomenon sheds light on the influence of health reporting on disease perception and is not only an example of how journalism can prepare the ground for living out hypochondria, but also of the strong influence of the mass media on the health education of the population.

See also

• Nocebo effect
• Cyberchondria

literature

• Martin Wagner: Does the media make you sick? A quantitative study of the opinion of doctors about the effect of health reporting on the patient. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2008, ISBN 978-3-639-04544-4 , also: Master's thesis, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Lutz Wendler: Diagnosis: Mohl's disease - How television doctors fill the practices of their colleagues. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. February 3, 2004
• Hubert J. Gieß: I'm sick, so I am ( Memento from January 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) In: Chemical Industry. Issue 1–2 / 96, page 50
• Martin Hörning: Between medication and massage socks. Medical journalism in women's magazines. Dissertation, Free University of Berlin, 2004