Health Anxiety
Do you find yourself frequently worrying that something is seriously wrong with your health, even when doctors have reassured you that you're okay?
Maybe you're afraid of having a heart attack or other medical emergency, developing cancer, or having a serious or terminal illness. You may notice a sensation in your body and immediately wonder, What if this is something dangerous?
With health anxiety, normal or everyday physical sensations can begin to feel threatening. A racing heart, headache, stomach sensation, muscle twitch, or feeling of dizziness may trigger a cycle of fear and uncertainty.
You may find yourself:
Googling symptoms or researching illnesses online
Asking loved ones, doctors, or other people for reassurance
Checking your body repeatedly for signs of illness
Monitoring your heart rate, breathing, or other physical sensations
Scheduling medical appointments or seeking repeated testing
Avoiding activities because you're afraid they could cause a medical emergency
Constantly scanning your body for changes or new symptoms
These behaviors can provide temporary relief, but the anxiety often comes back, and you may find yourself needing to check or seek reassurance again and again.
Health anxiety is treatable. I use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you break out of the cycle of fear, checking, researching, and reassurance seeking.
Treatment isn't about convincing yourself that nothing bad could ever happen. Instead, therapy can help you learn to tolerate uncertainty, respond differently to physical sensations and anxious thoughts, and stop letting the fear of illness control your life.
If you're spending significant time worrying about your health or constantly checking for signs that something is wrong, therapy can help you feel less controlled by health anxiety and get back to living your life.