Overcome Health Anxiety with Online Therapy

Category: Health Anxiety Online Therapy | Last updated: February 1st, 2022 | Reviewed and approved by:
Dr. Steven Gans, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD

Are You Health Conscious or Health Anxious?

Almost every one of us gets concerned about our health and well-being. And that concern can motivate us to try to optimize our eating, sleep and to lead a healthy lifestyle. Being health conscious can be great. It helps a lot in leading a healthy, happy, successful and meaningful life.

However, problems arise when this health consciousness gets transformed into “health anxiousness”. If you become too obsessed about your health and if you get too apprehensive that you are suffering from a severe illness (without the presence of such medical symptoms), then you may be experiencing health anxiety. In the past, psychologists referred to this as “hypochondria”. However, it is now called Illness Anxiety Disorder.

Illness Anxiety Disorder is a somatic symptom disorder in which the person suffering from it gets overly anxious or obsessed over his/her physical conditions. They see even a minor problem as an exaggerated severe illness. People suffering from Illness Anxiety Disorder often require continuous care, support and assurance from health service providers, family and acquaintances.

See if you recognize yourself in the symptoms of health anxiety:

Being preoccupied with having or developing a serious disease or health condition
Worrying that minor symptoms or body sensations mean you have a serious illness
Being easily alarmed about your health status
Finding little or no reassurance from doctor visits or negative test results
Worrying excessively about a specific medical condition or your risk of developing a medical condition because it runs in your family
Having so much distress about possible illnesses that it's hard for you to function
Repeatedly checking your body for signs of illness or disease
Frequently making medical appointments for reassurance — or avoiding medical care for fear of being diagnosed with a serious illness
Avoiding people, places or activities for fear of health risks
Constantly talking about your health and possible illnesses
Frequently searching the internet for causes of symptoms or possible illnesses

What’s more, people with Illness Anxiety Disorder can also experience additional mental health issues, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Clinical Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Treatment Procedures

The good news is that Illness Anxiety Disorder can be treated. Effective methods of treatment include Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy and support. You can receive these types of treatment here at Online Therapy.

Reviews

Our online therapy services have received 3298 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The therapist, CBT exercises and homework a very helpful and engaging. They keep me focused on my goals."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I like this platform so far for many reasons.

I can do it on my phone from anywhere.
It involves a lot of writing which I’m comfortable with.
My therapist is very responsive and provides thoughtul replies that show she’s not a bot. I do worry about bots. Some of the repiles could have been produced by a bot and an LLM but most feel personal and attentive.

I’ve never done online therapy. This was a good experience. I don’t know if I would do it again, but I will let you know after I’ve met with my therapist.

Brent"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"On line therapy has been a game changer as I traverse a new period in my life. The therapist is amazing and I love that I can pick the format of how we connect. We can email, text and video chat. It’s so convenient and works well with my schedule."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Beth is fantastic at counseling. She truly cares and will be there for you. She makes me feel comfortable to tell her anything. I have gone to a lot of counselors and she is head and shoulders above most of them. Her experience shows. She will hold you accountable but in a kind way. Overall great experience and I look forward to continuing to grow as a person with her help."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I appreciate the online access."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I deeply appreciated the comments that were made on the worksheets. I can already feel the way I think slowly shifting and becoming kinder to myself. This made me realize how many thought traps I fall victim to, and also made me realize that I had some measures before to counteract the negative thoughts. My therapist was really kind too and it was nice to read comments in my free time and not be restricted with when I filled out anything. I liked the journal because it would guide my thoughts and give me a glimpse of my day that I can look back on. As for the activity plan, I treat it more as a tentative schedule as my schedule and energy shifts throughout the day. Overall, I don't have any regrets choosing this platform to receive treatment and it was a nice first experience at therapy! Thank you for everything and I look forward to working on myself more with your help until I no longer need it."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Never been in therapy before, but I'm loving my sessions with Dr. Annice Overall! She's empathetic, listens thoroughly, and offers excellent guidance and advice. It's only been a month, and I'm already seeing improvements to my mental state by following her suggestions. Definitely recommend!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"After working with Marie Chisholm for a while, for the first time in what seems to be 10 years I no longer feel depressed."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I found your services very good and really was helpful in assisting me in dealing with my anger."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I would highly recommend this online therapy. I think the worksheets are very useful, in the way that they brought to me a different perspective on looking at my problems. Therapist is highly professional and helpful with his insights, bringing words of wisdom, which I much needed to hear"

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