Health Anxiety

Health anxiety includes a spectrum of disorders including hypochondriasis. Health
anxiety is characterized by excessive anxiety about one's health. Health anxiety
develops and is maintained by a tendency to misinterpret physical symptoms in
a catastrophic manner. The prevalence of Hypochondriasis is estimated to be
approximately 5% of the population although more mild presentations are much
more common.

Hypochondriasis is considered to be a Somatoform Disorder that meets the following
criteria:

• Preoccupation with fears of having a disease based on the misinterpretation of
  bodily symptoms.
  
• The preoccupation persists despite appropriate medical evaluation and
• reassurance.
  
• The preoccupation causes clinically significant distress or impairment
  in functioning.
  
• The duration of disturbance persists beyond 6 months.
  
  

A related cognitive feature of hypochondriasis involves a hypervigilance for bodily
changes that are then misinterpreted as being a sign of a dreaded disease process.
Behavioral patterns include repeatedly checking of the body for symptoms,
reassurance seeking from physicians or significant others, and repeated requests
for medical tests or inquiries into other sources of medical information
(e.g. internet searches of medical websites).

Individuals with health anxiety experience many physical symptoms that are real
but harmless. People who are perfectly healthy experience similar symptoms and
sensations. A major difference between individuals who experience health anxiety
from the normal population, even though the symptoms experienced in both groups
are similar, is that individuals who suffer from health anxiety are preoccupied with
their bodies while those who don't ignore these sensations or attribute them to
benign causes.

Health anxiety can be treated effectively in similar ways that other forms of anxiety
are treated. Treatment goalsor health anxiety typically include:

• Decrease "disease conviction" without necessarily reducing symptoms of
  concern
  
• Decreased bodily checking.
  
• Decreased medical utilization.
  
• Decreased health related worrying.
  
• Increased ability to cope with new symptoms.
  
• Improvements in quality of life.
  
  

In addition to Cognitive Therapy to identify and correct inaccurate thinking that
underlies and maintains health anxiety, general stress management strategies
that have been successfully utilized in Behavioral Medicine approaches are also
very helpful.