This Blog Is For You If You Want To Know About Health Anxiety

If you are a bit concerned about your health, then that is a good thing. In fact, it is healthy and absolutely normal. However, for some people, their concern for their health can overtake their day to day lives and cause significant distress.

Usually, people with health anxiety are preoccupied with the thought that they either have a severe illness or have a good chance of acquiring one. This leads them to seek reassurance about their health constantly. But, no amount of reassurance can make them feel good about themselves.

SO HOW CAN ONE DEFINE HEALTH ANXIETY?

Hypochondria or health anxiety is an irrational and obsessive concern about one’s health. It is also referred to as illness anxiety and is typically marked by a person’s constant imagination regarding an illness and its physical symptoms.

In some cases, it can also be a case of misinterpretation, where a person can wrongfully imagine a normal or minor body sensation to be some symptom of a serious illness. This thought remains even after reassurance by medical professionals that they are alright and do not possess any illness symptoms.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEALTH ANXIETY AND BEING CONCERNED FOR YOUR HEALTH

If your body is telling you and sending signals that you have an illness, it is normal to feel concerned. But, those with health or illness anxiety always imagine that they have symptoms of a serious illness. If it goes on for a long time, then you might become so consumed by your thoughts that the distress will become too much to bear.

In extreme cases, this can go well beyond just being concerned for one’s health. It might interfere with a person’s life quality, which also includes their abilities to:

• Function as usual on a daily basis.
• Work professionally in an organization or in an academic setting.
• Create and maintain healthy and meaningful relationships.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF HEALTH ANXIETY

Following are some of the common health anxiety symptoms:

(NOTE: other mental health disorders like GAD or generalized anxiety disorder and OCD or obsessive-compulsive disorder can cause these as well.)

1. Excessive Worrying About Health:

Here are some ways by which they might express their worry:

• Checking their bodies constantly for changes.
• Visiting the doctor quite often.
• Frequently searching on the internet for causes and symptoms of illnesses.
• Imagining normal and minor symptoms to be signs of a severe illness.
• Constantly worrying that they might develop an illness as someone in their family had it.
• Becoming preoccupied with fear about a particular illness.

2. Refusing To Accept The Fact That They Are Fine

If a person is really worried about their health, then it is natural for them to see a medical expert. But, if they have health anxiety, they will feel extreme distress even after the medical reports come back stating that everything is fine and their doctor reassuring them that they are healthy.

3. Anxiety And Worry Lasting For A Minimum Of 6 Months

Many people worry about a health condition or about becoming ill. It is good and healthy to be concerned about any change to your health, as mentioned above. There is nothing unnatural or abnormal about it. However, if your worry lasts for at least 6 months or more, and you have evidence that you are healthy, that might indicate that you have health anxiety symptoms.

4. Avoiding Healthcare Experts

While some people with health anxiety frequently opt for doctor’s appointments, others might avoid seeing any experts because they are afraid that they will find out that there is something wrong with them, i.e., they have a serious illness.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF HEALTH ANXIETY DISORDER?

If you are wondering as to “why do I have health anxiety,” then you must know that what makes someone have this disorder is not very clear. However, researchers are exploring various theories, many of which are linked to personality traits and early life experiences. Given below are some of the possible risk factors:

• Having overly anxious parents.
• Being witness to parents suffering from a serious illness.
• Having suffered from a severe illness as a child.
• Having experienced child abuse and neglect.
• Experiencing severe stress.
• Being witness to major trauma.
• Having had serious symptoms, irrespective of whether it threatened your health.
• Having an inclination towards worrying.
• Possessing a habit of looking up health-related information on the net.
• Having any other mental disorder like generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.
• Possessing certain genes.

These theories point to a common theme, and that is a misunderstanding of good health and illness. Let’s take, for example, that you suffered from a serious illness as a child. Then it is highly likely that you might believe that this disease is more common than it is, and you may not even know how you got it or how you were treated. This usually leads to an unrealistic belief that it is easy to get severe disease.

Also, you might even think that good health means never having any symptoms. Hence, if you ever even have a simple sensation like a headache, you might start worrying that you might have something serious.

HOW CAN HEALTH ANXIETY BE TREATED?

If you suffer from health-related worries or if someone you know does, it is best to seek help from a certified healthcare provider.

Treatment for this illness generally starts with psychotherapy. However, if you have severe health anxiety symptoms or any other mental health condition, medications might well be prescribed.

PSYCHOTHERAPY

2 primary forms of psychotherapy are known to be most effective for treating this condition, and they are as follows:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT:
  Current studies show that CBT is usually considered to be the first choice of treatment for health or illness anxiety disorder. It helps you by assisting you to identify and challenge the dysfunctional ways in which you think about your body and health. The main thought behind this is that if you can develop a different mindset about your health that significantly improves your life’s quality, it will boost positive thinking.
• Acceptance And Commitment Therapy:
  Briefly known as ACT, this is another approach to treating health or illness anxiety disorder, and although it not as popular as CBT, it has proven to be effective for some patients. ACT, unlike CBT, encourages you to accept any stressful feelings that you are having via mindfulness. It also pushes you to learn how to live in a healthy way despite of these feelings.

MEDICATIONS

The most common type of medications used is antidepressants, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These include fluoxetine and paroxetine. They increase serotonin levels, which is a chemical responsible for controlling how you feel in your brain.

However, suppose your medication does not work even after 6-8 weeks. In that case, your healthcare provider might switch you to a different SSRI or change entirely to a different kind of antidepressant known as serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). Some examples include duloxetine and venlafaxine.

The duration for which you take these medicines depends on specific circumstances. But, most of those who take these medications for their health anxiety disorder take them for at least 6months to a year.

It is worth mentioning here that, whether you undergo psychotherapy, are prescribed medications, or both, the aim of the treatment is not to get rid of your health concerns entirely but to help you cope with them. A person can live a regular, normal, and functioning life with illness anxiety if it is managed in the proper way. For this reason, you should be open with your healthcare provider and schedule appointments on a regular basis and not only when you feel really worried.

IN CONCLUSION

It can be challenging to cope with health anxiety disorder, and at times you might even feel that your friends and family do not completely understand your problems and worries.

However, it is essential to remember that help is available. If you really are concerned about your health or have been experiencing extreme anxiety levels about having or getting a severe illness, do not hesitate to reach out to a certified healthcare expert.

They will assist you in understanding your symptoms and point out the right treatment options for you.