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!]

"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!]

"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!]

"Bernadette is a genuine, caring and knowledgeable therapist who offers sound advice. She is truly down to earth and I am grateful for her support!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"This app has many features to help make it through a rough time, the yoga I have been doing for years really helps to calm your nerves. It is also great exercise. Their is a calendar feature that if you don't already use a calendar can help plan out your time can help to get through and see that things improve with activity. As well as evidence based cognitive approaches and therapy."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Setting up and scheduling is easy to use. So far I like my experience!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I feel heard, listened to and understood. In therapy with other therapist I didn't feel like I was really heard. I felt like they were just going through the motions with me and didn't really care. However with Dr Cannady I feel as though she cares about me."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I was not sure about online therapy but I love it and I really love my therapist who has helped me a ton just in the first month!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Very easy to sign up and navigate. Messaging with therapists has been convenient with fast response times."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"My therapist Shelly is great and very helpful"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The sessions and the worksheets have been really helpful for me. The worksheets give me things to consider and really be thoughtful about, as well as keep me accountable so I don't just fall into the routine of "it's fine, it's fine" and then do nothing. And the sessions as follow up have been great for me to talk through things that came up from doing the worksheets. So there's kind of a pause-and-think, and then discuss-and-feel approach to the program that works well for me. It's only been a few weeks, but I appreciate what I've learned and am tuning into, even in this short time."

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