Are You An Armchair Doctor?

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Diagnose yourself over the internet? Tell us about it

National Public Radio and the radio program This American Life are working together to produce an hour-long special on the health care system that will air this fall. As part of the program, we want to take a closer look at people who practice medical self-diagnosis.

Specifically, we need stories from people who are armchair (or television or Internet-educated) "doctors" — ordinary patients who show up at their real doctor's office with a diagnosis or test or medication already in mind.

Have you ever seen an ad or public service announcement on television that inspired you to ask your doctor for a particular test or pill?

Have you ever have spent hours on the Internet researching medical problems, diagnosed yourself, and then gotten some medication or treatment for that diagnosis that didn't turn out so well?

Let us know if you have a story like this or know someone who has a story like this that they might be interested in sharing. We're particularly interested in cases of self-diagnosis that didn't work out well for one reason or another.

Please write to us here and tell us your story.

Many thanks!