It’s normal to worry about your health from time to time. But when this worry becomes obsessive, it can be cause for concern. If you’ve been scrolling through endless online articles about a disease, checking your body for symptoms, and developed a deep fear of getting sick, you may have illness anxiety disorder also known as health anxiety. Here’s how to recognize it and how to cope.
What is Illness Anxiety Disorder (or Health Anxiety)?
Illness anxiety disorder, formerly called hypochondriasis and sometimes referred to as health anxiety, is the intense fear of having a serious illness. A person with illness anxiety disorder will have this fear despite the presence of actual physical symptoms, even when medical evaluations reveal nothing of concern.
Those with illness anxiety disorder often misinterpret normal bodily sensations, such as a minor headache or tiredness, as signs of a serious condition. Distress over these perceived symptoms persists despite reassurance from doctors or negative test results. They may worry so much that they repeatedly see doctors and ask for constant reassurance from their loved ones.
This worry may also cause the opposite response: they might completely avoid going to the doctor until it’s absolutely necessary, since they might learn something bad about their health.
Symptoms of Health Anxiety
- Fear of a serious illness, despite negative tests
- A preoccupation with their health
- Hyperawareness of bodily sensations (like headaches or joint pain)
- Excessive checking the body for symptoms
- Constantly researching illnesses online
- Asking for frequent medical tests
- Going to the doctor for minor symptoms
- Avoiding doctor visits or medical discussions out of fear
- Seeking reassurance from family, friends, or the internet
Causes of Health Anxiety
Like many mental health disorders, illness anxiety disorder doesn’t just have one definitive cause. Some possible risk factors include:
- Growing up in a family where health issues were frequently discussed
- Experiencing a significant illness or death of a loved one in childhood
- High stress levels, particularly around health or other traumatic life events
- Being prone to worrying or perfectionism
- Co-occurring mental health issues like depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
How to cope with Illness Anxiety Disorder or Health Anxiety
Try mindfulness
Mindfulness involves staying present in the moment without judging how you feel, which can be particularly helpful for those with illness anxiety. Learning to observe bodily sensations without automatically assuming the worst can make you feel less anxious. Relaxation techniques, like deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation, can also reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety.
Limit your health-related behaviors
One key step in breaking the cycle of health anxiety is to reduce behaviors that fuel those thought loops. This should include setting limits on how often you check your body for symptoms and avoiding online research about illnesses.
Challenge your catastrophic thinking
People will illness anxiety tend to jump to the worst-case scenario whenever they experience a minor symptom. Break this pattern by considering more likely, less severe explanations for your symptoms. For example, instead of assuming that a headache is a brain tumor, remind yourself that headaches are typically caused by tiredness, dehydration, or muscle tension.
Learn your triggers
Your illness anxiety thought loops might be triggered by certain events, people, or subject matters. Your perceived symptoms might also be triggered by things you ate or did. It’s important to learn these triggers by paying attention to what happens before your anxiety spikes. When you learn your triggers, you’ll know the anxiety is coming from the head and not the body.
Get professional help
If health anxiety is impacting your ability to enjoy life, talk to a therapist. They can help you explore the roots of your anxiety and develop coping strategies that work for you. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one approach that will help you recognize your irrational thought patterns and replace them with more realistic, balanced thinking. Exposure and Response Prevention can also be used to help you expose yourself to the distressing thoughts that are causing the health anxiety.
To learn more about how to cope with health anxiety, contact us today.
