Illness Anxiety Disorder: Recognizing Symptoms and Seeking Help
If you struggle with anxiety, you might be prone to catastrophizing. Thinking about possible negative outcomes for any situation makes you feel like you’re prepared for anything. Yet the scenarios you imagine rarely actually happen.
These thought patterns can differ between individuals based on their specific anxiety symptoms. People with illness anxiety disorder often worry that they are seriously ill. This persists even if there is nothing physically wrong with them. They might see doctors repeatedly and spend lots of time looking up different symptoms online, despite the fact that nothing concerning comes up on any medical tests.
Illness anxiety disorder can be frustrating and debilitating. Here’s how to recognize the symptoms, and how a therapist can help you live a life free of illness anxiety.
What Is Illness Anxiety Disorder?
Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “hypochondriac” used to refer to people who are frequently concerned that they are sick or injured when they’re not. Today, this particular form of anxiety is referred to as “illness anxiety disorder.” Overall, this condition involves excessive worrying that you are on the verge of a severe illness, or that you already are seriously ill.
Sometimes, people develop illness anxiety disorder simply due to stress. Other people may develop it because they overlooked illness symptoms in the past that later turned out to be serious. Some struggle because a medical condition runs in their family, and they fear developing it.
Mysterious Physical Symptoms
A person with illness anxiety disorder might notice normal body sensations or minor, inconsequential physical symptoms and assume they’re headed for health troubles. A grumbling stomach, a mild headache, a small rash, or short-term muscle aches could set off alarm bells for someone with illness anxiety. In fact, their anxiety can actually exacerbate their symptoms. If they’re feeling achy, anxiety can make their body feel even more tense. If they’re struggling with a headache, anxiety might worsen it.
Looking Up Worst-Case Scenarios
People with illness anxiety disorder often assume the worst of their symptoms. For example, someone with a minor cold might start worrying if they’re getting colds too frequently, and if this could be a sign of a failing immune system linked to cancer. An individual could fear that a run-of-the-mill headache is actually a red flag for a brain tumor. These worries keep them in a constant state of fear. They may take dramatic steps to avoid getting sick, like avoiding social events or taking lots of unnecessary supplements.
Going to the Doctor
Individuals with illness anxiety disorder might make frequent doctor’s appointments, asking questions about the diseases they fear they have. It can seem like reassurance that they’re well is the key to anxiety relief. Instead, when the doctor produces test results that they don’t show anything concerning, the anxiety persists. Someone with illness anxiety might assume the doctor missed a detail, or that they have a different condition instead.
Overcoming Illness Anxiety Disorder
You do not have to keep struggling with the symptoms of illness anxiety disorder. A therapist can help you gradually overcome this condition. While everyone is different, a therapist will likely work with you on recognizing when you’re stressed and how this affects the physical sensations in your body. They’ll equip you with healthy stress management techniques and explore illness anxiety triggers that might be setting off your symptoms. Additionally, your therapist will aid you in avoiding the urge to look up symptoms and choosing another activity instead of reaching for your phone.
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Reach out to my practice to schedule a free consultation and learn how anxiety therapy can help you feel more comfortable in your own body and find relief from illness anxiety order.
