Overcome Health Anxiety with Online Therapy

Category: Health anxiety | Last updated: October 18th, 2018 | 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 1743 reviews and the average rating is 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Worksheets are really helpful and make you think. My therapist really tries to focus on what I need and makes the situation easier. Weekly meetings can be done via text, call or video which I love because it makes it less uncomfortable in the beginning."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"Better than my last therapist so that's cool"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I enjoyed setting goals for myself which are personal only to me. I liked that I had to identify different problems areas and work out a process to meet, achieve, and alleviate that problem.

The focus to be a positive person always was a great reminder there are always ups and downs in our lives. I have learned to be more positive with this class. I have learned to control my anger when speaking to my husband. Use of my tone of voice, speaking softly, not over speaking or talking over each other. Not trying to make him agitated, but controlling the conversation for a positive conversation. It's OK to not agree on everything, but advise him that you do not agree and that's your opinion. I also like the interaction with the therapist thru the computer and thru voice. I did not care for the typing of responses back and forth with the first therapist. The second therapist listed to my responses and provided me with written feedback in the different sections or journal."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"good!"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I think so far the services have been good I like my therapist"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Great service. Really feel like my therapist takes the time to read my comments and has thorough input."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I am surprised at the amount of insight I have gained in such a short time."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Honestly great program, the worksheets alone will help to attain so much personal progress."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The sign-up process was easy and quick. The questions on the worksheet are thought provoking and insightful."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"It works great if you're someone looking for guidance and willing to put in the work."

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