Health anxiety
Health anxiety, also known as illness anxiety disorder or hypochondriasis, is a persistent and overwhelming fear of having or developing a serious illness. Someone suffering from health anxiety may find the following situations a challenge:
- Visiting doctors, healthcare professionals or hospitals
- Noticing normal bodily sensations or minor symptoms
- Searching for information on symptoms (using "Dr Google")
- Hearing about illnesses in the news or from friends
- Undergoing medical tests or procedures
- Being around people who are unwell
In this article, we'll explore what health anxiety is and how we treat it.
Common thoughts when suffering from health anxiety
Someone with health anxiety may find that they worry about a number of different things, including:
Obsessing over physical sensations or symptoms, no matter how minor. They may spend hours researching symptoms online or repeatedly checking their body for signs of illness, even though medical professionals have reassured them they are healthy.
Feeling convinced that doctors have missed something serious or that test results are wrong.
Worrying that normal bodily functions like headaches, fatigue, or changes in heart rate are signs of a life-threatening condition. This could lead to catastrophic thinking where they imagine the worst-case scenario.
A constant background fear of illness that makes it difficult to enjoy life or focus on daily activities.
Physical symptoms
People with health anxiety may experience panic attacks when they notice physical sensations or think about illness. Symptoms can include rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, nausea and dizziness.
Panic attacks are not dangerous, but they are extremely unpleasant.
The physical symptoms of anxiety itself can become a source of worry for someone with health anxiety, creating a cycle where anxiety about illness creates symptoms that then fuel more anxiety.
Even if someone does not experience a full-blown panic attack, they may find that they experience some of the symptoms listed above when confronted with health-related concerns.
How we treat health anxiety
Much like other anxiety disorders, health anxiety is a highly treatable condition.
We use an integrative approach, so your therapy will be tailored to you. In the first session, you'll spend some time getting to know your therapist so that they can provide you with the perfect programme.
You will typically spend some time learning about how anxiety works so that you are better able to recognise the symptoms of anxiety and understand the way it manifests in your life and the thoughts that accompany it.
Your therapy may involve small, step-by-step experiments where you test out some of the thoughts you have about your health. Your therapist will help you put together a plan to tackle these in a manageable way that pushes you just enough to make improvements while preventing you from being overwhelmed.
We'll work at your pace, so your therapy can move forward as fast or as slow as you are comfortable with. The things you will learn will stay with you for the rest of your life. So, even after your therapy has finished, you will continue to benefit from the sessions.