Health anxiety, the anxiety disorder no one talks about, is an illogical and obsessive fear of developing a major medical illness. It's also known as disease anxiety, and it used to be known as hypochondria. A person's fantasy of physical symptoms of sickness characterizes this ailment. In other circumstances, it's a person's misperception of small or typical bodily feelings as major sickness symptoms, despite medical specialists' assurances that they aren't sick.
What's the difference between being concerned about your health and being anxious about your health?
It's natural to be concerned if your body is showing you symptoms that you're sick. The persistent idea that you have a symptom or signs of a serious illness characterizes health anxiety. Worry might grow so overwhelming that it becomes incapacitating. The reasonable thing to do if you're concerned about your health is to visit your doctor. Even if medical test results come back negative and physicians tell you that you're healthy, you'll experience tremendous worry about your actual or imagined symptoms if you have health anxiety. This condition goes beyond having a normal concern for one’s health. It has the potential to negatively impact a person's quality of life, as well as their ability to:- work in a professional or academic setting
- function on a daily basis
- create and maintain meaningful relationships
What causes people to get anxious about their health?
Experts aren't clear what causes health anxiety, however the following elements are thought to be involved: - You have a poor understanding of body sensations, diseases, or both of these things. You may think that a serious disease is causing your body’s sensations. This leads you to look for evidence that confirms that you actually have a serious disease.
- You have a family member or members who worried excessively about their health or your health.
- You’ve had past experiences dealing with real serious illness in childhood. So as an adult, the physical sensations you experience are frightening to you.
- Health anxiety is most common in early or middle adulthood, and it can get worse as you get older.
- Health anxiety in elderly persons may be focused on a concern of developing memory issues.
- a stressful event or situation
- the possibility of a serious illness that turns out to not be serious
- being abused as a child
- having had a serious childhood illness or a parent with a serious illness
- having a worrying personality
- excessively checking your health on the internet
What are the options for dealing with health anxiety?
The goal of health anxiety treatment is to improve your symptoms as well as your capacity to function in everyday life. Psychotherapy is the most common form of treatment, while drugs are sometimes used as well.Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, is the most prevalent treatment for health anxiety (CBT). Because treatment gives you skills to help you control your problem, CBT can be quite useful in treating health anxiety. CBT can be done alone or in a group setting. CBT has a number of advantages, including: - identifying your health anxiety worries and beliefs
- learning other ways to look at your body sensations by changing unhelpful thoughts
- raising your awareness of how your worries affect you and your behavior
- responding to your body sensations and symptoms differently
- learning to better cope with your anxiety and stress
- learning to stop avoiding situations and activities because of physical sensations
- avoiding examining your body for signs of illness and repeatedly looking for reassurance that you’re healthy
- boosting your functioning at home, work, or school, in social settings, and in relationships with others
- checking whether or not you’re suffering from other mental health disorders, like depression or bipolar disorder
Medication
If psychotherapy alone is improving your health anxiety, it is usually all that is used to treat your issue.However, some persons do not react to psychotherapy. If this is the case, your doctor may prescribe medicine. This disorder is usually treated with antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Medications intended to treat mood or anxiety disorders may also assist if you have anxiety in addition to those diseases. Some health anxiety drugs have substantial dangers and negative effects. It's critical to properly discuss your treatment choices with your doctors.