Worried Sick: The Torment Associated
With Health Anxiety
Health anxiety sufferers interpret minor symptoms as major illness.
Even the most benign sniffle can signal incurable lung cancer
for people affected by health anxiety.
The six percent of Americans who suffer from health anxiety worry pointlessly and painfully about dangers that do not exist.
Reassurance by doctors provides no comfort for people with health anxiety. In fact a person with health anxiety is like to go from doctor to doctor, distrusting what they say, yet demanding more and more attention and diagnostic tests. Their behavior may seem ridiculous to others, even to themselves, but their distress is very real.
People who suffer from health anxiety may develop a preoccupation with their physical condition and the situation often worsens to such a degree that their social and marital lives suffer and their ability to work is compromised. They are unwilling to accept a psychological explanation for their disorder.
Symptoms of Health Anxiety include:
- Overwhelming fear of illness
- Misinterpretation of minor physical symptoms
- Distraction from daily activities due to health worries
- Frequent doctor visits, switching doctors
- Fear of impending death, making preparations for death
- High levels of anxiety
- Complaints lasting longer than six months.
According to the Anxiety and Phobia Treatment Center at White Plains Medical Center, treatment is directed at changing perceptions. The person with health anxiety has to learn how to live with the ordinary "ups and downs" of life before they can live as comfortably as other people.
Treatment for health anxiety may include anxiety medication as well as cognitive behavioral therapy. If you or someone you care about suffers from this debilitating condition, talk to a mental health professional about the many treatment options that are available.