What is health anxiety?
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many of us worry about illness. This is perfectly normal as long as it is temporary. However, it is essential to seek help if these thoughts become too disturbing or intrusive. Fortunately, health anxiety can be treated.
Can health anxiety be treated?
The short answer is yes. People with health anxiety fear overly serious illnesses, such as COVID-19, cancer, multiple sclerosis, or undiagnosed heart disease. Although they may feel unwell, they don t have the illness they fear. Fortunately, most people benefit from treatment for anxiety and health anxiety.
What is health angst?
Health anxiety and angst is a term formerly known as hypochondria. People suffering from health anxiety usually prefer the term health anxiety because it feels less stigmatizing. Most professionals now use the term health anxiety or disease-related anxiety. In 2019, the Danish National Health Council officially changed the term to health anxiety in the diagnostic system.
Health anxiety is a disorder characterized by an excessive focus on one s health and a fear of developing a serious illness. These health anxieties are challenging to control, and despite repeated medical examinations and doctor reassures that everything is normal, a person may only calm down for a short time.
In the past, health anxiety was considered a complex disorder, but it is not insurmountable and is often overlooked. Significant progress has been made in this area in recent decades, leading to several valuable treatments. Unfortunately, many people continue to suffer from debilitating anxiety and health problems without getting the help they need. One reason may be that people suffering from health anxiety seek medical rather than psychological help.
Who suffers from health anxiety?
Studies show that about 1-2% of the population suffers from health anxiety to an extent that requires treatment. Most studies have shown that anxiety is equally distributed between men and women.
Anxiety seems to be independent of social factors such as education and income, and both young and older adults can suffer from health anxiety. However, the onset of anxiety often occurs in early adulthood. Some studies, , have shown that children as young as four can suffer from health anxiety, but it is usually diagnosed from the age of 18.
Signs of health anxiety
Recurring thoughts of a serious illness
Hearing or reading about an illness can quickly lead to fear of becoming ill or getting the same disease
Excessive attention to the body and its signals
Extreme attention to information about health and illness
Fear of getting sick from something you touch or eat
Fear of taking prescribed medication because of side effects
Significant impact on daily life and quality of life
Why do people develop health anxiety?
Biological, psychological, and environmental factors may all play a role, but because little research has been done in this area, no clear cause is known.
As with most anxiety disorders, research suggests that genetic heredity an increased susceptibility to certain life events that can affect a person s perception of health and illness plays a role in the development of health anxiety.
In terms of psychological upbringing, parents attitudes and behavior towards illness can be passed on to and learned from the child. However, not all children of parents with a health problem will develop it themselves.
Environmental influences from childhood experiences, such as serious illness in the family or other family members, may also play a role. Stressors, such as violence, loss, maltreatment, or alcohol abuse in the family, may be risk factors for the development of health problems later in life. However, there is no direct link, as such stressors are common risk factors for the development of mental health problems later in life.
The COVID-19 crisis is an example of a stressful event. It is a well-known clinical phenomenon that epidemics or viral diseases, such as SARS, Ebola, or HIV in the 1980s, can trigger health anxiety. In the aftermath of the fungal pandemic, more and more people are experiencing health anxiety, and people already suffering from health anxiety may experience worsening symptoms.
People with mental health problems are vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis.
How is it diagnosed?
A diagnosis of health anxiety should be made by a psychologist or psychiatrist with extensive knowledge of other diagnoses because people with health anxiety often have one or more other mental disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, or depression.
It is, therefore, essential to determine whether health anxiety started first or is now the most severe mental disorder to ensure that the person receives the proper treatment. Diagnosis usually involves asking questions about the person s life history and the development and severity of anxiety symptoms over time.
Because health anxiety is usually caused by one or more symptoms that the person fears are signs of a severe illness such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, or COVID-19, the person must be adequately screened for symptoms.
People with health anxiety are often very impressionable and quickly develop symptoms similar to diseases they have heard or read about, so changing symptoms should not get in the way of a diagnosis of health anxiety if the person meets the criteria and still undergoes medical assessment.
Once someone is diagnosed with health anxiety, some people worry whether the health system will treat them worse in the future, such as whether doctors will take new symptoms as seriously if someone has also already been diagnosed with health anxiety. This is a critical misconception that needs to be addressed.
People with health problems have the same rights and risks of illness as others, and doctors have the same medical responsibilities as patients without health problems. Moreover, no study has shown that people with health problems are more likely to have their illnesses ignored. At best, people get better treatment if doctors know their health problems.
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