What did hypochondriacs do before the internet?

Mercury poisoning, adrenal failure, iron toxicity, a sluggish liver, blepharitis, allergies, a weakened immune system, menopause, a slow metabolism, yeast infections, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, bad bacteria, osteopenia, leaky gut syndrome, hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, back pain, chemical sensitivity and celiac disease.

These are just a few of the illnesses and conditions that my mother believes she suffers from. Keep in mind that to her, all of these are deadly illnesses that are slowly, yet constantly killing her. She does not ever go to the doctor in order to find out the state of her health, rather she goes to inform the doctor of what she is convinced that she has.

My husband says that in order for my mother's mental health to improve we must first remove her access to the internet. With as many hours as she spends reading about dangers to her health, we're sure that she would be scared away from any treatment by looking up rates of misdiagnosis for psychiatric patients or something similar.

I'll have to make a list sometime of the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of vitamins, remedies and nutritional supplements that she has.

With so many illnesses to be found and researched on the internet, it makes me wonder: What did hypochondriacs do before the internet?