Effective HELP FOR HEALTH ANXIETY

Health anxiety is sometimes referred to as health phobia, hypnochondria or illness anxiety disorder and it is the worry about having a serious illness or dying.

This condition is the result of wrongly perceiving a problem in your physical or mental health, despite the absence of an actual medical condition. People with health anxiety become unnecessarily alarmed about any physical or psychological symptoms they detect, no matter how minor the symptom may be, and are convinced that they have, or are about to have a serious illness or disease. 

You may seek constant reassurance from GP’s and helplines despite there being nothing physically wrong. There may be frequent trips to A&E. However, once you have become locked into that negative style of thinking and convinced yourself that your chest pains are a heart attack and that headache is a brain tumour, all perspective has been lost.

It's difficult to think logically or rationally when you are full of anxiety and can convince yourself of the most catastrophic outcomes. It can be very distressing, and sometimes only the reassurance of a medical professional can convince you that you're not dying. Although, it's likely that that reassurance only lasts until the next pain or symptom...especially if you are used to performing regular body scans to try and detect health issues.

THE THINKING BEHIND THE ANXIETY...

All anxieties are caused by particular, unhelpful ways of thinking, and health anxiety is no exception. The main culprits of health anxiety are catastrophic thinking whereby you imagine the worst case health scenarios. This is accompanied by obsessive thinking - the constant replaying in your mind of getting ill or dying - and the implications this will have for you and your loved ones. These are attempts by the sufferer to regain a sense of control over their perceived illnesses, but the reality is, that the anxiety is exaccerbated.