Hypochondria
Health anxiety can be a vicious circle
Source: NHS
In this topic (6)
If you constantly check your body for signs of illness, such as a rash or bump, you will eventually find something. It often won't be anything serious it could be a natural body change, or you could be misinterpreting signs of anxiety (such as increased heart rate and sweating) as signs of a serious condition. However, the discovery tends to cause great anxiety and make you self-check even more.
You may find yourself needing more reassurance from doctors, friends and family. The comfort you get from this reassurance may be short-lived, or you may stop believing it, which only means you need more of it to feel better. Seeking reassurance just keeps the symptoms in your head, and usually makes you feel worse.
When physical symptoms are triggered or made worse by worrying, it causes even more anxiety, which just worsens the symptoms. Excessive worrying can also lead to panic attacks or even depression .
Articles for Hypochondria
Have I got health anxiety?
If you can answer"yes" to most of the following questions, it's likely that you are affected by health anxiety andmight benefit from talking to your GP. During the past six months: Have you been pr
Health anxiety can be a vicious circle
If you constantly check your body for signs of illness, such as a rash or bump, you will eventually find something. It often won't be anything serious it could be a natural body change, or you could b
How your GP can help
Once your GPhas established thatyou do suffer from health anxiety, and there is noserious underlying physical cause for any symptoms you might have, theyshould investigate whether you might have a pro
Introduction
Most of us worry about our health from time to time, and some of us have to manage serious medical conditions. But for some people, health worries become overwhelming and a problem in itself.
Types of health anxiety
People with health anxiety can fall into one of two extremes: Constantly seeking information and reassurance for example, obsessively researching illnesses from the internet, booking frequent GP a
What causes health anxiety?
There are many reasons why someone worries too much about their health. You may be going through a particularly stressful period of your life. There may have been illness or death in your family, or
