Health anxiety disorder is a condition that causes healthy people to worry about their illness. Anxiety disorder is characterized by no symptoms, such as hoarseness of the throat, even if they have no symptoms.
Most people with health anxiety are worried about serious diseases such as cancer. They are much less worried about strep throat, ankle sprains, or colds. Worrying that serious illnesses will interfere with their daily lives. This may cause them to seek unnecessary tests, waste time in the doctor's office, and spend days of trouble. However, people with health anxiety may not only pay attention to their own health, but some people are also overly concerned about the health of their children.
Health anxiety is a relatively common disease that is known to affect about 4% to 5% of people. But experts believe that it is close to 12%. Unlike other anxiety disorders that are more common among women, health anxiety seems to affect men and women equally.
Not all health concerns indicate health anxiety
Paying attention to your health is different from health anxiety. It is normal to worry about your health from time to time. You may be wondering if your stomachache indicates a more serious condition. If you have had a serious illness in the past, you may be worried about the upcoming image scan.
People with health anxiety usually misunderstand normal or benign physical symptoms and attribute them to more severe symptoms. For example, if they have to compress their arms while sleeping, instead of rolling and getting rid of the numbness, they may worry that they will have a stroke. Symptoms caused by anxiety can exacerbate people's existing anxiety about health.
Is it a health anxiety disorder?
So, how do you know if you are sick, or are you just worried about being sick? Here are some signs of health anxiety:
- You have no symptoms, but you are still worried that you are sick.
- When the doctor reassures you that you have no disease or the examination shows that you are healthy, it will not relieve your nervousness.
- You will find yourself constantly searching for health information online.
- If you read news reports about the disease, you will start to worry that you have the disease.
- Your health concerns will affect your life, family, work or hobbies and activities.
Can testing relieve tension?
Although testing seems to be a quick and easy way to alleviate health-related worries, for people whose health anxiety has become uncontrollable, testing rarely provides lasting relief. Although some people often consult their doctor and ask for an anxiety disorder test, in other cases, health anxiety can cause people to avoid the doctor altogether, which can lead to a treatable condition that cannot be diagnosed.
Treat health anxiety/how to get out of anxiety disorder?
People with health anxiety also often suffer from other mental illnesses, such as depression , anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, treatment may need to solve multiple problems. Treatment options include medication and psychotherapy, usually in the form of talk therapy, which can help you deal with and get rid of worries.