Health anxiety is defined as a persistent obsession with getting a serious illness or health problem, or a person’s belief that they have symptoms of a serious or life-limiting illness. Healthy anxiety, formally known as hypochondria, may become so all-consuming that the anxiety becomes disabling.
Of course, it’s natural to worry about our health from time to time, and if a person feels ill or has distressing symptoms, the first step should be contact a medical professional. In most cases, a doctor’s visit will provide reassurance to the patient that their condition is not a cause for concern.
Health anxiety sufferers will often struggle to accept they are not ill and become worried that the doctor may have missed something and demand repeated appointments and tests. Other common symptoms of health anxiety can include constantly checking the Internet to research symptoms – which can yield results that only make them more concerned for their health, increasing stress levels.
It is also very common for healthy anxiety sufferers to experience physical sensations such as palpitations or panic attacks, all of which can reinforce the thought process that the person does have a serious health issue which has been missed by medics.
Anxious thoughts about health have the potential to interfere with a person’s daily life, including their ability to maintain relationships, go to work or school, or function on a daily basis. Health anxiety can also affect a person’s relationship with their medical professional and create a financial burden if they choose to pay for the reassurance of additional tests or a second opinion.
Health anxiety often develops in middle-age and can worsen as a person gets older. As a person ages they are more likely to experience health anxiety that centres on a fear of developing memory issues.
Other reasons to develop health anxiety may include:
- Witnessing a stressful or traumatic event
- Suffering childhood abuse
- Having a serious childhood illness
- Coping with a parent or relative who has a serious illness
How does CBT help reduce health anxiety?
For clients diagnosed with health anxiety, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help to reduce the worry by breaking the vicious cycle of anxious thoughts and addressing the beliefs currently held about their health.
A person who suffers anxiety over their health has heightened emotions and is very aware of the smallest changes to their physical well-being. Panic can take over and the person can become overwhelmed and unable to cope with their distressing thoughts.
CBT for health anxiety helps clients to take a detailed look at the sensations and physiological experiences that pre-occupy them, with the aim of breaking the cycle of negative thoughts and very gradually confronting and processing the behaviours in a more controlled and rational way.
The main CBT principle is that our behaviours, feelings and emotions can work together to create a negative thought pattern that reinforces anxiety. By learning certain mindfulness techniques that help to recognise when a person starts to catastrophise about their health, CBT can provide ways to better cope with anxiety levels and calm the mind.
For example, a person with health anxiety who experiences sudden chest pain may become convinced that they are having a heart attack and enter a cycle of panic and stress. To adapt these thoughts CBT will explore other more rational reasons for the chest pain, such as a strained muscle, indigestion, or too much caffeine. By challenging the immediate and catastrophic reasons for the pain and exploring more likely options, anxiety levels will reduce.
Cognitive methods retrain a person’s thought process and teach new behavioural patterns to minimise the amount of time spent on the negative actions that kept them gripped in a spiral of anxious feelings about their health.
By giving client the tools to help them recognise their troublesome thought patterns they can begin to move to a more positive outlook on their health, which will in turn help them to lead a happier and more fulfilled life.
Don’t suffer with health anxiety—we can help
Jamie Dempsey is a qualified and accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist with the British Association for Behavioural Psychotherapies (BABCP: 090911) and has over twenty years clinical practice experience working within primary and secondary mental healthcare settings.
Jamie has proven experience in helping clients to better understand their concerning thoughts towards their health, helping them move forward with a more positive attitude towards their perceived health issues.
