Overcome Health Anxiety with Online Therapy

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.

RIGHT NOW: Free therapy due to the coronavirus pandemic

We want to help as many people as possible during these extraordinary times.
Therefore we are offering parts of our online therapy platform for free.

The free access includes our online therapy program with 8 easy-to-follow sections and 25 worksheets, yoga and meditation videos, activity plan, journal, and tests (communicating with a personal therapist is not included).

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Reviews

Our online therapy services have received 973 reviews and the average rating is 4.6 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"My therapist is great I actually feel like I am listened to and have an outlet for my emotions in a positive environment and I get positive constructive criticism on things I have an issue with."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The service is helpful because it provides many reminders about completing exercises and staying in touch with my therapist."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Thank you so much this online program helped me in so many ways"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Therapist-wise, David has been helpful and prompt replying my messages. The program is also helpful by providing a structured framework. I have seen some improvement in my ability to cope with the triggers."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Therapist was great, knew her stuff. Support team was awesome and I'd recommend them."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Why didn't I do this earlier? Those were the words I said to my wife after 3 weeks of online-therapy.com. This service gives me everything I need to maintain my goal to a happier and less care free life. Word of advice, it only works when you do. Having said that, every worksheet and session is like to putting money in the bank. Five stars."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Best therapy I’ve tried"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I’ve found the work sheets helpful.
The responses that I’ve received from Julie have been supportive and helpful."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The CBT guide at Online Therapy has been very helpful. I was able to have a few key revelations about my current situation while working on the content provided.
Self change does take a lot of work. You can't just watch the videos and have your life changed.
But if you're willing to put in the work this site can be an excellent resource."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Therapy is a jewel and I am glad that I took the time to sign up and go forward with this. The worksheets were helpful and my assigned Therapist was also great. She was attentive and encouraging. As life is a journey, I am grateful for the tools I was able to learn and apply, this was very timely in my life."

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