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 3287 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"This has dramatically improved my marriage and life."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Online therapy has helped me considerably with my thoughts and emotions. My therapist has been great at enabling me to feeling my emotions and ask me questions to assist in that process. I’ve never felt pressured into sharing information and she has taken time with me as I’ve opened up. I recommend the service to anyone no matter what you need to discuss. Sometimes we just need that little extra support system and that’s okay."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"my therapist has been a very good aide in asking the right questions to kick start my introspection on my current problems and issues. Very patient with my slow responses and a wonderful source of advice for corrective behavior."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Worksheets are very helpful and apply to many different situations. My therapist is always willing to go the extra mile to help me when I need it."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The payment was smooth."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I like the therapist and it is very nice to get the help i need"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I have had a great experience so far"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I have recently felt very empowered and connected to my self again thanks to this program. I have been actively applying the tools taught during and in-between sessions and can attest to the positive effect it has been creating. I am very grateful that I chose and continue to receive support through this platform!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Katalin has been nothing but outstanding and supportive. She’s there in a heartbeat when needed."

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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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