Health Anxiety 

Health anxiety, previously known as hypochondria, is characterised by worry about either yourself or others close to you having a serious medical condition.  This can lead to a person reporting that they are experiencing physical symptoms, including pain, of an illness. 

Individuals will often become obsessive over bodily sensations such as their heart beat and will check continuously for physical changes such as skin blemishes, lumps or headaches which they often interpret as a sign of serious medical conditions. 

This can cause individuals to avoid situations for fear of becoming unwell or spending large amounts of time checking themselves, attending frequent appointments to the doctors and/or searching online symptoms for conditions. 

For many individuals the more they focus on their bodily sensations the more they will notice and believe they are experiencing a change which can lead them to disregarding negative test results or medical opinions. For others, seeking medical advice can serve to relieve anxiety, however this is often short-lived and they quickly move on to focusing entirely upon another health concern. 

Who is effected and why?

Some studies estimate that up to 4% of the population are affected by health anxiety with more women affected than men. Like many disorders the onset is typically around adolescence or early adulthood however it can happen at any time, especially if there has been a health scare  diagnosis within the family. 

Treatment for Health Anxiety 

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the treatment of choice for health anxiety which may be used alongside medication. Medication would be discussed with and prescribed by  your GP. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will help you develop an understanding of what maintains your difficulties and by working together with you, we will conduct safe experiments to test out your beliefs and challenge your behaviours that serve to cause further anxiety and maintain the disorder.