Symptoms and Treatment of Hypochondria
(Health Anxiety)
When someone is sick or feeling unwell, they may feel some nervousness or anxiety about their health and the consequences of their symptoms. However, for those with Health Anxiety (also known as Hypochondria or Hypochondriacal Disorder), whether there is a medical condition or not, these fears become overwhelming and can consume hours of one’s day. They experience intense worries about their health, their mental health and, in some cases, the health of their loved ones.
Common Symptoms of Hypochondria
If you have ever wondered “Am I a Hypochondriac?”, you might find the list of symptoms below helpful. We have included several case studies throughout this article, so you can gain a clear understanding and definition of hypochondria. People with health anxiety will commonly spend long periods of time doing compulsive behaviors (both physical and mental). These behaviors are done to reduce anxiety and manage the uncertainty they experience.
Symptoms of Hypochondria
- Fear that non-problematic physical symptoms are evidence of a larger, more fatal illness.
Case Study Example:
Laney recently started experiencing exhaustion and burnout. She had been working really hard at her school and her part time job and she came home at the end of the day exhausted. While Laney understood that her symptoms were common side effects of working long days and not having time off to rest, she started experiencing fear and uncertainty that they were evidence of possible cancer, a brain tumor or other serious illnesses.
- Fear that a recurring physical symptom may be evidence of a serious, imminent health condition.
Case Study Example:
Tanya had been experiencing a lot of stress at work and was experiencing severe anxiety about an upcoming presentation she needed to present to her boss and his partners. Tanya started getting stomach aches and abdominal pain every morning as she got ready for work. Tanya was terrified that she had a tumor or cancer in her small intestine, large intestine, or left kidney as this was where she experienced the most discomfort and pain.
Common Health Related Compulsions / Safety Behaviors
- Excessive research (online and in books) to ensure they do or do not have an illness
- Recurring reassurance seeking with family members, friends and health professionals
- Recurring visits to doctors and health professionals about feared illness
- Seeking excessive “second opinions” by different health professionals about their symptoms or feared illness
- Checking body for presence or absence of feared illness (E.g. Tanya commonly checked her blood pressure, bowel movements, and umbilical region for signs of a tumor or lump.)
- Checking body for changes in physical symptoms (E.g. Tanya commonly pushed on her upper abdomen and lymph nodes to check for signs of illness).
- Avoidance of triggers that may increase their fear of illness (Laney commonly avoided any TV shows about the medical field, magazines, newspapers, etc.)
- Avoidance of those who have recently been sick (or perceived as being sick)
- Panic Attacks
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If you are thinking, “This describes exactly what I am going through! I’m a Hypochondriac”, we are happy to say that help is available for you. We have wonderful, highly trained therapists who can get your life back from health anxiety and related illness anxiety disorders using evidence-based treatment modalities. Click here to fill out an interest form and we will reach out to discuss options.
The Cycle of Hypochondria
The Cycle of Hypochondria demonstrates how compulsive behaviors can actually increase the chances of experiencing high levels of anxiety.
Case Study Example:
Laney found that constantly checking for signs of illness resulted in finding other “symptoms” that most would consider benign. This ended up creating more and more anxiety for Laney. The more she looked over her body, the more likely she was to find a bump, rash, red mark, or notice aches and pains that triggered her hypochondriasis (NB: Hypochondriasis is sometimes misclassified as hyperchondriasis, which is not a disorder at all).
Case Study: Tanya found that the more doctor’s appointments she made, the more likely she was to hear about “the worst case scenario.” This, in turn, created significant anxiety, doubt and uncertainty for Tanya. When her anxiety increased, was then more likely to continue the cycle by doing MORE behaviors (such as seeking more and more medical second opinions) that created future anxiety.
In some situations, the reassurance Laney and Tanya received from medical professionals decreased their anxiety. However, it was only a short period of time until their fears returned, and they felt the need to do more compulsive behaviors.
Treatments of Hypochondria: Cognitive Therapy and Behavioral Therapy
You may have found some websites declaring they have the “hypochondriac cure” only to find that they are providing reassurance and other problematic behaviors that exacerbate the cycle of hypochondria. This continually causes the hypochondriac pain and continued suffering.
Our clinicians have all been trained extensively in evidence-based treatments. This included Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is widely known to be one of the most successful treatment modalities for Health Anxiety. The treatment for Health Anxiety involves learning how to identify distorted thoughts and restructure them into more reasonable and rational ones, commonly called Cognitive Therapy.
Treatment also involves Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which is a component of Behavioral Therapy. ERP involves exposing oneself to their fear while reducing the compulsive behaviors done to provide certainty and removal of one’s fears.. Using a hierarchy, created by both the therapist and the client, the hypochondriac child, teen or adult will slowly expose themselves to their fear and practice mindfulness tools to manage anxiety (Read more about Mindfulness here) instead of doing compulsive behaviors.
Can a hypochondriac make themselves feel symptoms?
Sometimes, as mentioned above, the more you check for symptoms, the more aware you become of every pain, bump and change in one’s body. Right when you check for pain, you notice pain, and before you know it, you are noticing pains and aches that you did not observe before. This can be very confusing for the person with health anxiety and create an immense degree of anxiety and uncertainty.
