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 478 reviews and the average rating is 4.6 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Surprisingly, the problems and issues coming up for me are NOT why i first joined this program. So in this, i am finding it amazingly insightful!"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"Certainly useful - helps you rephrase things in your mind to obtain a better perspective. I have appreciated the role of the therapist in 'challenging' your problematic thinking and getting you to see where you have gone wrong in your cognition."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I have only been a member for a couple of weeks, and have only had one therapy session. But it has already been helpful."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"My therapist is very kind and sincere and reaches out to me a lot. I like that i can get therapy at home. I just started and am excited to see how this can help."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"The frequent feedback has helped me keep moving through this process."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I have been using Online Therapy for just over a week and so far am very happy with the service and my therapist. She has been providing regular feedback and adjusting her recommendations based on my progress (or lack of). While I have been a bit slow to discover other aspects of the site (journal, yoga, meditation), this is something that I plan to start this week. I'm looking forward to my first chat tomorrow."

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Rating: [3 out of 5 stars!]

"These stars are based on how I'm feeling its affecting my life in a positive way, with these methods. Technically, you would have 5 stars because.. well... you're providing what you say you offer. I'm just wondering if online therapy will work or if I should look for in person. We shall see!"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"Pretty good so far."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Very responsive and engaging."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Great program. Awesome."

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