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!]

"I am amazed at the quickness and sharpness of my therapist. She gets back to me quickly and always with insights and guidance and observations. It is a bit labor intensive with the worksheets and planning, but worth it!!!!!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Convenient, holistic and reliable, online therapy has saved me hours of travel to see a therapist at a fraction of the cost"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Jack has been the most helpful and insightful therapist! Honestly, idk how he understands me so well."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"So far. I am still going through worksheets before I finally have a session with the therapist.

The worksheets have been a challenge, but that has been part of the learning experience about learning to manage my thought process.

The therapist has chimed in and has given me some good insights, and has given me some clues that help me understand the cycle of thought that has to change."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"So I like my treatment. I am still feeling bad I hope to feel better. My counselor is good."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Affordable and Convenient for a non-insurance option"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The best online platform I've tried"

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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!]

"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!]

"The user interface of the website and the platform is very easy and straightforward to navigate."

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