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 3638 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Natasha has been very helpful. I have been impressed with her ability to make connections that I never considered before. In a few conversations with Natasha I feel like I have learned a lot about myself. Natasha has also recommended certain things that I can do in order to deal with some of the problems I'm faced with and I've already seen some improvements and am able to feel more confident in certain situations."

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"Find doctor extremely insightful and dedicated to my issues."

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"Helpful"

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"Going good. feel like our sessions are working"

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"Excellent services!"

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"Very easy to navigate through. Therapist reach out periodically through the week to check in. No complaints!"

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"Help me process a lot of emotions that I've been struggling with for a while"

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"Deborah has been a great help to my partner and I navigating our marital issues"

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"Is been great to use this service. The UI is actually very easy to use and no glitches so far."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Great professional online therapy! I like that there are worksheets and ways to contact your therapist through messaging. Easy scheduling also. Thank you!"

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