7 Signs You Have Health Anxiety

1. You have an intense fear that you have or will develop a deadly disease. Health anxiety involves constant thoughts that revolve around developing a dangerous disease. Any twinge, pain, ache, sniffle, or other possible symptom becomes a ticking time bomb in your mind, and you may start attributing very normal physical symptoms to only one horrific outcome.
2. You automatically believe you have it when you hear or read about an illness or disease. Reading about a new illness, hearing from an acquaintance they have been diagnosed with a certain disease, watching television programs that feature different ailments—all of these can feel as if they’re directly happening to you when paired with health anxiety.
3. You’re constantly looking for reassurance from professionals or loved ones. Needing frequent outside confirmation that you aren’t sick can be a result of health anxiety. However, you may find yourself seeking the same relief over and over again, which can eventually put a strain on your relationships and finances.
4. You avoid doctors, hospitals, and anything related to medical situations. Health anxiety can cause irrational fears that going to the doctor, even for a routine checkup, will reveal a dreadful illness.
5. You constantly seek out medical advice. On the flip side, some health anxiety sufferers will return to medical clinics and professionals repeatedly for examinations and tests—even when none of them have been recommended by a physician or medical practitioner.
6. You are preoccupied with bodily functions and/or physical sensations. Health anxiety causes an obsession with finding out “what’s wrong” with your body, even when nothing serious is going on.
7. You refuse to believe medical professionals. For those anxiety sufferers who routinely seek medical help, it may be surprising to know that being told there is nothing wrong with your body may not be the blanket reassurance you were hoping for. In fact, many victims of health anxiety find it nearly impossible to believe practitioners who give them the “all clear”—and they end up pursuing alternate opinions or ruminating on their general mistrust of the results.

There Is Hope

Read the complete article available at Psychology Today!

Reflection:

Do you struggle with health anxiety? How do you cope?

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