What is health anxiety?
Health anxiety, which is sometimes called illness anxiety disorder, is a psychological condition where a person becomes excessively worried that they have or might develop a serious illness. Everyday bodily sensations, such as a headache, heartbeat changes, or mild fatigue, can trigger disproportionate fear. Even when medical tests show no signs of illness, the anxiety often persists.
Health anxiety can significantly interfere with daily life. It can affect relationships, work and mental wellbeing. Health anxiety is not “being dramatic’ or “overly cautious”. It is a genuine mental health disorder that benefits from seeking professional support with a counsellor or psychologist.
Illness anxiety disorder
According to the DSM-V, the key features of illness anxiety disorder are:
- a preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness
- one engages in excessive health-related behaviours, for example, repeatedly checking their body for signs of a disease or illness or alternatively a person can participate in unhelpful avoidance behaviours, like avoiding going to the doctor
- a high level of anxiety about health and the person becomes quickly alarmed about their health status
- somatic symptoms are either not present or are very mild in intensity
- the preoccupation with one’s health has lasted for at least six months, even though the illness that one is afraid of may change over time
If you can relate to this, help is available at Brisbane Counselling Centre from one of the professional psychologists or counsellors who attend the centre.
How can health anxiety impact you?
Health anxiety can have wide-ranging effects on a person’s life. Left untreated, it can reinforce a cycle of fear, reassurance seeking and avoidance. Some key areas of impact include:
- Emotional distress: constant worry can lead to feelings of panic, sadness or hopelessness. People may struggle to relax, sleep or focus on everyday tasks because health concerns dominate their thoughts
- Physical symptoms: although anxiety itself isn’t caused by illness, it can produce very real bodily sensations, including tightness in the chest, stomach upset, headaches and muscle tension. These sensations then reinforce the belief that something is seriously wrong
- Relationships and social functioning: loved ones may become frustrated by ongoing fears or reassurance seeking behaviours. Social outings or travel plans might be avoided to “stay safe”, leading to increasing loneliness and dependence on others
- Work and productivity: frequent medical appointments, time off work and preoccupation with health information can reduce concentration and job performance. Over time, this can contribute to financial or professional stress
- Overall wellbeing: when the mind is constantly monitoring the body for danger, life becomes narrowly focused on health. Joy, spontaneity and curiosity fade, being replaced with vigilance and fear
It’s important to remember this distress is not voluntary. It stems from genuine psychological processes involving hypervigilance, cognitive distortions and learned fear responses.
Understanding what’s behind health anxiety
At the core of health anxiety is misinterpretation of bodily sensations. The mind interprets normal or minor sensations (like a flutter or ache) as evidence of serious disease. This often begins after personal or family experiences with illness, exposure to health information online or high-stress life changes.
Cognitive behavioural models suggest that people with health anxiety often:
- focus on threat-related information about the body
- interpret ambiguous sensations as dangerous
- seek reassurance from doctors, family or the internet, which temporarily relieves the anxiety, but ultimately maintains the anxiety in the long term
- avoid feared situations such as medical tests or news about illness, which prevents disconfirmation of fears
Understanding this pattern helps guide effective psychological treatments, which typically targets both the thoughts and behavioural patterns maintaining the anxiety.
Treatments available for health anxiety
Counselling and treatment for health anxiety can help to reduce the worrying and regain well-being. During a counselling session, you can expect to engage in open and supportive discussions about your concerns, emotions and experiences. Therapists attending Brisbane Counselling Centre understand, care and will listen, provide guidance, offer coping techniques, assisting you to develop strategies to manage the health anxiety more effectively.
Common evidence-based approaches proven to help reduce health anxiety includes Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy, including EMDR, Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).
The choice of approach will depend on individual needs as assessed and discussed by the psychologist or counsellor with you. Health anxiety counselling commonly teaches strategies like relaxation skills, mindfulness practices, breathing techniques and challenging irrational thoughts (cognitive restructuring) to help individuals manage, build resilience and develop coping skills. Your counsellor or psychologist at Brisbane Counselling Centre will develop a treatment plan tailored to your individual needs.
Although medications can often be the first line of defense in the treatment of anxiety disorders, anxiety therapy (unlike anxiety medication) treats more than just the symptoms of the problem. Therapy for anxiety can help identify the underlying causes of the person’s worries and fears as well as empowering them with strategies to cope with future episodes, leading to the kind of life you wish to be living.
The longer health anxiety remains untreated, the more entrenched its patterns become. Repeated reassurance-seeking and avoidance strengthen the brain’s anxiety pathways, making fears harder to shift. Early psychological intervention interrupts this cycle, preventing the escalation into other psychological disorders.
Help is available
If you can relate to any of these symptoms or life is challenging right now, we can help support you at Brisbane Counselling Centre. Talking to a caring professional trained in health anxiety will really help to improve the quality of your life. Take the courageous step and reach out for help today.
If you are struggling with health anxiety, or are wondering what is happening for yourself, it is important to seek assistance from a mental health professional to address the anxiety or stress you are experiencing. Please call to speak with one of our friendly team members to discuss your needs further. The Brisbane psychologists and counsellors are available to help.
