If you have health anxiety, you have an irrational and obsessive worry that you have a serious medical condition. Health anxiety takes other names, such as hypochondria and illness anxiety. Overall, healthy anxiety is marked when you have an imagination of physical symptoms of an illness.
In other cases, you may misinterpret minor or normal bodily sensations as symptoms of a serious disease. Even if medical professionals reassure you that you do not have an illness, you may have a hard time believing them and trusting their professional advice.
Anchor Therapy is a counseling center in Hoboken, NJ with mental health therapists specialized in helping children, teens, adults, and couples with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, life transitions, and more. Anchor Therapy is accepting new clients and is now providing in-person sessions and teletherapy sessions to residents of New Jersey, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Utah.
What is health anxiety?
Health anxiety is when you spend a considerable amount of time worrying that you are ill or stressed about getting sick. These worries are considered troublesome when they begin to take over your life. Oftentimes, health anxiety is related to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, also known as OCD.
How is health anxiety related to OCD?
Not every case of health anxiety has roots in OCD, but some do. In many cases, health anxiety can resemble OCD but they are not the same exact thing.
It is normal to worry about your health from time-to-time- everyone does this at some point in their lives; however, if your worries are interfering with your day-to-day life, it is time to make some changes and reach out to a health anxiety therapist.
In some OCD cases, some peoples worries are specified on their health. Health anxiety is not a form of OCD, and OCD can include thoughts and anxieties that are not related to sickness.
What is the difference between illness anxiety and OCD?
In short, health anxiety and OCD are two separate things but it is possible to have both mental disorders.
OCD involves thoughts, also known as obsessions, that are:
Repetitive
Upsetting
And intrusive
When you feel the need to address those thoughts with rituals, or compulsions, it can be distressing as well. In some cases, obsessions and compulsions can focus on a theme, such as your health.
Common OCD themes include:
Contamination OCD - You have obsessions involving dirt and germs, often worrying that they will make you sick
Harm OCD - You worry that you may hurt yourself or other people around you
Symmetry OCD - You feel anxious when things are not in order
Religious OCD - You worry about sinning whether intentionally or accidentally
If you struggle with contamination OCD, you may have these contamination-related compulsions:
Excessive hand washing
Excessive cleaning
Seeking reassurance from doctors
You do not have to struggle with your OCD alone. If you are interested in learning more about therapy for OCD, check out our previous blog: “How Counseling Can Help You Break OCD Habits.”
On the other hand, health anxiety is characterized by irrational worries about having serious medical conditions.
How do I know if I have health anxiety?
You may have health anxiety if you resonate with several of the following signs and symptoms:
Constantly worrying about your health
Acting as if you are ill (e.g., avoiding certain physical activities, such as exercising)
Constantly checking your body for signs of illness, such as sources of pain, tingling, lumps, and so on
Always asking other people for reassurance that you are not ill
Worrying that a doctor or medical test missed something
Avoiding anything to do with serious illness (e.g., not watching a television show that includes mentions of disease, medical procedures, and so on)
Obsessively looking online or in the media for health information
It is important to note that anxiety itself can cause physical symptoms. You may mistake the signs and symptoms of anxiety as a sign that you have a serious illness. Therefore, it is important to stay educated and know your symptoms so you have an accurate idea of what is going on in your body.
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety feels different for everyone.
Obviously, anxiety greatly impacts the mind. The following list can be the effects that anxiety has on the brain:
Having a sense of dread and fearing for the worst possible outcome
Worrying about your anxiety itself (e.g., trying to anticipate when the next panic attack will happen)
Feeling like the world is speeding up or slowing down
Feeling tense and nervous/you are unable to relax
Constantly worrying and stressing that, if you stop worrying, bad things will happen to you
Feeling like other people can tell that you are anxious and are looking at you
Seeking a lot of reassurance from other people to make sure that they are not angry or upset with you
Stressing that you are losing touch with reality
Low mood and possible depression (If you are wondering if you have depression, take our Depression Quiz)
Constantly thinking about the past, particularly bad experiences
Worrying a lot about things that may occur in the future
Depersonalization - A subsection if disassociation where you feel disconnected from your mind or body (e.g., like you are watching yourself as a character in a film)
Derealization - A type of disassociation where you feel like the world around you is not real and you are disconnected
Some of the lesser-know impacts of anxiety are its physical manifestations.
Effects of anxiety on your body may include:
Feeling light-headed or dizzy
A fast heartbeat or an irregular heartbeat
Nausea
Changes in your sex drive
Having panic attacks (If you struggle with panic attacks, check out our blog “How To Manage A Panic Attack”)
Faster breathing
A churning feeling in your stomach
Pins and needles
Feeling restless or like you are unable to sit still
Headaches, backaches, and other aches and pains in your body
Sweating or hot flashes
Sleeping issues (If you struggle with getting enough sleep, read our past blog “How CBT Can Help With Your Insomnia”)
Grinding your teeth
Anxiety symptoms can last for a long time in some people and, for others, they may come and go.
If you have anxiety, you may find it difficult to live your day-to-day life, such as:
Trying new things
Simply enjoying your times of relaxation
Looking after yourself
Holding down a job
Forming or maintaining relationships
How can my illness anxiety disorder be classified?
If you experience anxiety about your health, you may be classified as having one of the following conditions:
Illness Anxiety Disorder - You have no physical symptoms or mild physical symptoms but believe that you have an illness
Somatic Symptom Disorder - You have physical symptoms that you perceive to be distressing, taking it as a signal for serious sickness
It is common to be worried about your health and the possibility of falling ill, but health anxiety goes beyond the regular level of concern. Health anxiety can become an issue in your life when it interferes with your ability to function and lead a normal life. For instance, it can affect your relationships, work, school, and other important areas of your life.
What caused me to develop health anxiety?
Mental health experts are not sure of what the exact cause of health anxiety is, but they estimate that several factors are involved.
Below are some of the following reasons why you may feel anxious about your health:
You have had past experiences with dealing with an illness as a child or teen. Therefore, as an adult, any physical sensations you experience can feel frightening to you
You have a poor understanding of your bodily sensations and/or diseases. For example, you may falsely think that a serious disease is dictating certain sensations in your body. You then begin to look for evidence that confirms that you have an actual disease
You have family members or close friends who worried or continue to worry excessively about their health or your health
Oftentimes, health anxiety occurs in early or middle adulthood and worsens with age. For older people, such as the geriatric population, health anxiety concerns may be more serious, such as end-of-life and memory issues. If you or a loved senior family member are struggling, read our blog “Benefits of Geriatric Counseling.”
Additional risk factors for health anxiety encompass:
A stressful event or situation
Having a worrying personality
Excessively checking your health by doing research on the internet
The possibility of a serious illness which turns out to be false
Having a serious illness as a child or a parent with a serious illness
Another major mental health trend experts are seeing is an increased level of health anxiety, especially amongst children, after the COVID-19 pandemic.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic alter many people’s health anxiety?
For some people, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted or worsened symptoms of health anxiety due to serious fears of illness. The 24/7 news coverage of the disease did not make many people’s health anxiety any better.
It is important to remember that health anxiety impacts everyone differently. For example, one person with health anxiety may have viewed the 2020 pandemic as a scary time of great uncertainty. This may have resulted in serious symptoms of anxiety and many sleepless nights, wondering what would happen if they caught the then-unknown COVID-19 disease.
On the flipside, other people may have felt like their health anxiety lessened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although scared about potential infection, you may feel like you were living in a dream world where everyone was wearing a mask and gloves, elbow pumping instead of hugging, and public spaces were constantly being sanitized. The world became more conscious about how to respect other people in regards to illness.
However, as the pandemic persisted and shifted, the thoughts of contamination crept into many people’s minds, even those who did not struggle with health anxiety prior to the pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, many people may be aligning with somatic symptom disorder.
Everyone is much more in tune with their bodies. From the sniffles or the feeling you get in your chest when you are coughing, we understand every cue our bodies are providing. A few years ago, many people would not have thought twice about these instances and moved on quickly after.
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on health anxiety is still being researched, but it is clear that there is a connection between the two.
How can I manage my health anxiety?
People with health anxiety over-focus on what they feel, and register worst-case scenarios as serious possibilities.
It is reasonable and healthy to seek the help of a medical professional if you are getting cues from your body that you may be ill, such as discomfort, pain, and functional changes. If you have health anxiety, you may worry about your health even if you are not experiencing any symptoms or received confirmation from a medical professional that everything is okay.
If you are struggling with health anxiety, it is worth it to take the necessary steps to take control of your life again. Check out the following tips to overcome health anxiety.
Talk to a licensed health anxiety counselor
If your anxiety is not going away and it impairs your daily life, it is time to seek the help of an anxiety therapist. A therapist for health anxiety can develop a therapeutic plan with you that is tailored to your unique needs. Anxiety counselors will teach you more about your disorder so you can understand your symptoms, make needed lifestyle changes, and provide helpful coping skills.
It can be hard to reach out for help, especially if you believe that your anxiety is what is keeping you safe and healthy. With the right support from attending anxiety therapy, you can gain the right tools to de-stress and live a life you enjoy again by participating in fun activities and hobbies. All of this can go a long way in helping with your health anxiety and also protect you from long-term health concerns.
2. Get comfortable with your sensations
If you have health anxiety, you may often misinterpret normal physical sensations as signs of illness or disease. For example, let us say that you have not worked out in a few months and you are starting to get back into it again. After an intense boxing class, your muscles feel sore. This may cause you to spiral and think that you are coming down with the flu or even COVID-19.
No matter what is concerning you, it is healthy to experience different physical sensations. For instance, think if you were to run up 10 flights of stairs. After you run up the stairs, you start breathing more quickly and your heart races. If this did not happen, that would be an indication that there is something wrong in your body.
When you constantly expose yourself to physical sensations that make you nervous, you make them feel less overwhelming and less scary over time. You can try to practice healthy behaviors that permit you to experience various physical sensations to increase your familiarity and comfort with your body.
One example can be engaging in a regular yoga practice where you strengthen muscles you would not typically engage with. Yoga is also a practice that benefits your mental health. To learn more, read our blog “The Mental Health Benefits of Practicing Yoga.”
3. Recognize and challenge unhelpful thoughts
Many types of anxiety include catastrophizing thoughts. In other words, you may assume that the worst is going to happen to you without really having any proof.
If you have health anxiety, chances are that you tend to create false scenarios in your head based on one instance. For example, let us say that your “instance” is that you have a headache. The false scenario you may create to go along with this instance, or headache, is that you have a brain tumor. This is a huge jump in logic. You may make these logical leaps so often that you do not even realize how irrational they sound.
Not everything you think is true. Just because you have a thought, does not make it true or rooted in reality. When you challenge these thoughts, you prevent your anxiety from taking over and interfering with your life.
You can start small by trying to distinguish an anxious thought from a factual one. Once you know the difference, ask yourself “What is a different way to think about this?”.
This switch in your internal dialogue is actually what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is rooted in. At Anchor Therapy, we have anxiety therapists who use CBT techniques to help you silence your anxiety and change your thought patterns for good so they are rooted in reality instead of fear.
To learn more about CBT, check out our blog “How You Can Treat Your Anxiety Using CBT.”
Overall, health anxiety is real. If you struggle with health anxiety, you have an unrealistic fear of developing a serious or life-threatening illness despite having little to no symptoms. Your health anxiety does not have to control your life. Contact us today to work with one of our CBT therapists for health anxiety.
Victoria Scala
is the Social Media Manager, Intake Coordinator, and Office Manager at Anchor Therapy in Hoboken, New Jersey. She is a graduate of the Honors College of Rutgers University-Newark. In her roles, Victoria is committed to managing the office’s social media presence and prioritizing clients' needs.
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