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Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
Watching medical dramas feeds health fears
A taste for television hospital drama might make you more fearful about your own health, say psychologists.
Belgian researchers said the tragedies and medical horrors played out on ER, Casualty and Holby City may have a subliminal influence.
They questioned 1300 teenagers about their viewing habits, and found worries increased among those watching more medical drama. A UK expert said fretting about illness was particularly common in teenagers.
The three year research project was presented to a British Psychological Society meeting in Bath on Wednesday.
The level of health fear measured in the teenagers grew by as much as 10% after a diet of hospital programmes, and girls appeared to be more affected than boys.
Even hospital documentary programmes, and news reports about health, were implicated.
