Signs And Symptoms Of Health-Related Anxiety
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Understanding health anxiety
Health anxiety is a condition that may cause people to think they are sick despite minor or no symptoms. Fears of a severe illness can interfere with their daily lives, whether they’re spending their time consumed with worry or going to appointments at multiple doctor’s offices for extensive testing.
Being concerned about your health is one thing, but can you worry too much? Read on to learn more about what distinguishes health anxiety from general health concerns and what you can do if your health worries affect your life.
Health anxiety and hypochondriasis
There’s a difference between health anxiety and being concerned about health. People concerned about new or worsening symptoms or conditions from the past do not necessarily have health anxiety.
Signs and symptoms of health anxiety
Common behaviors in health anxiety and anxiety disorders
Other symptoms or behaviors people with this type of anxiety may experience include:
- Spending hours researching health information online
- Reading a news story about a disease or condition and then worrying that they have it
- Thinking something is wrong with their health after medical tests appear “normal”
- Misinterpreting or attributing specific physical symptoms to something serious
Physical signs and symptoms of health-related anxiety disorders
People with this condition also experience common signs and symptoms of anxiety, which can heighten their worries about their health. These symptoms can include:
- Being easily fatigued, often due to sleep trouble
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Having headaches, stomach aches, muscle aches, chest pains, or other unexplained pain
- Experiencing stress responses like sweating or racing heart
- Feeling tingling or trembling sensations
Somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder
Two conditions are similar to health anxiety: somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder.
Somatic symptom disorder (SSD)
Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) occurs when someone experiences physical symptoms like pain, shortness of breath, or weakness to the point that it causes challenges in daily functioning. These symptoms are real. The person does experience them and believes they are sick, but a physical cause of the symptoms can’t be found.
Someone may receive an SSD diagnosis when their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are disproportionate to their symptoms.
They may see a primary care physician rather than a mental health professional and may have difficulty understanding when the doctor tells them that they are too concerned about their symptoms despite medical testing showing that they do not have a serious illness.
Illness anxiety disorder (IAD) or hypochondriasis
Illness anxiety disorder (IAD) used to be called hypochondriasis, a psychiatric disorder that causes excessive worry about having or developing a medical condition. People with IAD may constantly worry about getting sick despite having a clear physical exam and lab tests. They may focus on typical body functions, like sweating or digestion, and interpret them as symptoms or believe their doctors were incompetent for not finding anything wrong.
People with this condition may seek care from medical doctors who may speculate that they have IAD when they continue to have anxiety about and a preoccupation with illness. The most significant difference between someone with IAD and someone with SSD may be that those with IAD often do not have somatic symptoms. If they do, they are mild, and the anxiety the person experiences may be disproportionate to their symptoms.
Prevalence and risk factors for health anxiety
Having health anxiety can cause someone to feel alone and like no one understands what they’re going through. They may feel embarrassed to discuss their experiences without medical assessments or diagnoses to support their feelings. They may wonder, “How common is health anxiety?”
Health anxiety may be relatively common, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was associated with greater awareness of one’s physical symptoms and those of others around them.
Approximately 4-5% of people experience health anxiety, though the condition may frequently go undiagnosed. In reality, up to 10% of the population could experience health anxiety at some point.
Risk factors for health anxiety and related mental health conditions
It can be common for people with health anxiety to have co-occurring mental health conditions, such as another form of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). SSD risk factors include a history of a personality disorder, a disorganized lifestyle, childhood neglect, sexual abuse, or a history of substance use.
There may be an increased risk of developing IAD if the person experienced a serious illness during childhood or if their parents or siblings had a major medical condition. People with underlying anxiety disorders or who spend much time researching health-related information online may also be more likely to develop IAD.
Cognitive behavioral therapy as a treatment for health-related worries and anxiety disorders
Treatment for health anxiety depends on the symptoms the person may be experiencing. People with SSD may have difficulty accepting that their medical doctor cannot diagnose or treat their symptoms. And they may be unwilling to talk to a mental health professional because they’re convinced they have a physical illness.
Treatment for somatic symptom disorder
It can benefit the person if their medical doctor works with a mental health professional to continue monitoring the physical symptoms and help them cope with their frustration about not receiving a precise diagnosis. Treatment from a mental health professional can help reduce symptoms, improving their quality of life.
Treatment for illness anxiety disorder
For IAD, treatment primarily focuses on helping people cope with their anxiety. Psychotherapy with a mental health expert can help and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be the first-line treatment, which focuses on assisting people in reframing their thoughts into empowered versions of previously disempowered patterns.
Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy as a treatment for health anxiety and hypochondriac worries
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association, CBT can be a highly effective, long-lasting, well-established treatment. It may also be an effective treatment for health anxiety.
CBT can help people learn other ways to interpret the signals they are getting from their bodies, cope with their anxiety, and stop looking for signs of illness. These things can help someone with this type of anxiety improve their functioning at work, school, or home.
Online mental health treatment for hypochondriac worries and health anxiety symptoms
If you’re experiencing health anxiety, talking to an online therapist can help. Most people who complete the initial questionnaire on BetterHelp, for example, are matched with a qualified, vetted professional within 48 hours of signing up so they can start treatment as soon as possible.
With online treatment, you attend therapy sessions from the comfort of your home, or anywhere you have an internet connection, which can allow many the opportunity to prioritize their mental health. With BetterHelp, you can choose the communication format that feels most comfortable, such as video, voice chat, or text messages.
Research shows that online CBT can be effective at treating health anxiety. One review of 19 studies found no significant difference between face-to-face and internet-delivered treatment for health anxiety.
Takeaway
It’s understandable that, after searching for answers to inexplicable symptoms, you may feel frustrated or embarrassed. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help in coping with health anxiety.
Your dedicated counselor isn’t there to judge or critique you. They’re there to help you make steps toward a happier and healthier life, which looks different for everyone. To add a compassionate online therapist to your support network, reach out to BetterHelp.
How do you stop health anxiety?
Individuals experiencing health anxiety feel excessive anxiety about their own health, often seeking reassurance of their health status by scheduling numerous medical appointments and are easily alarmed by normal physical sensations or minor symptoms of illness.
Treating health anxiety is a process, but the most effective way to manage symptoms is to make an appointment with a primary care provider to rule out any medical problems, then seek a mental health professional for talk therapy.
Does health anxiety ever go away?
You can overcome health anxiety by using the cognitive restructuring techniques taught by cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is the preferred method to treat health anxiety as well as other anxiety disorders.
Why does health anxiety feel so real?
Health anxiety can cause a vicious cycle of psychological symptoms and physical symptoms. When a person becomes fixated on the idea of developing a specific illness, such as heart disease, this anxiety can cause typical anxiety symptoms such as rapid heartbeat. However, the individual will then interpret this as a symptom of heart disease, which can exacerbate anxiety and cause further physical symptoms.
Can health anxiety cause fake symptoms?
Health anxiety is an umbrella term for two mental disorders: illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder. In the former, an individual worries excessively over normal sensations, believing that they could be part of a serious medical condition like a brain tumor, or ALS. Somatic symptom disorder can cause physical symptoms such as pain, fatigue and weakness, increased heart rate, or shortness of breath, which trigger anxiety symptoms or depression. In somatic symptom disorder the physical symptoms are not fake, but they are not connected to any physical or neurological cause.
How do I get over my fear of health?
You can gradually reduce symptoms of health anxiety with one of several treatments, depending on the severity of your symptoms. Some may be able to manage symptoms through self-help, using techniques such as cognitive restructuring. Others may require professional therapy, or a combination of therapy and medication to get on top of symptoms.
What is the best therapy for health anxiety?
The treatment plan for health anxiety typically includes cognitive behavioral therapy. According to the American Psychiatric Association, a combination of talk therapy (usually CBT) and anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication is the most effective way to manage the symptoms of health anxiety.
How does health anxiety start?
There are a number of factors that can play into the development of health anxiety. For many, traumatic events in childhood can contribute to health anxiety. Some children who have experienced medical problems or were close to someone who did may find that they begin to obsess over their health as an adult.
How to stop obsessing over health?
Cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven to be extremely effective at mitigating the symptoms of health anxiety. Working with a therapist on cognitive restructuring techniques can help you learn to identify unhelpful thoughts and reframe them in a truthful and healthy way.
How to relieve health anxiety?
The symptoms of health anxiety can be managed with therapy, or a combination of therapy and medication depending on the severity of symptoms. Treatment of health anxiety can help a person avoid unnecessary medical care and expensive medical bills, and allow them to enjoy life and their own good health.
What is the root cause of health anxiety?
As with other mental health disorders, health anxiety does not typically have a single root cause, rather it can develop from a combination of genetic, biological, and environmental factors. That being said, some factors that may contribute to this disorder include:
- A history of childhood illness or serious illness in your family
- Family problems or trauma in childhood
- Family history of health anxiety or other forms of anxiety
- Extreme stress
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