Overcome Health Anxiety with Online Therapy

Category: Health Anxiety Online Therapy | Last updated: February 1st, 2022 | Reviewed and approved by:
Dr. Steven Gans, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD

Are You Health Conscious or Health Anxious?

Almost every one of us gets concerned about our health and well-being. And that concern can motivate us to try to optimize our eating, sleep and to lead a healthy lifestyle. Being health conscious can be great. It helps a lot in leading a healthy, happy, successful and meaningful life.

However, problems arise when this health consciousness gets transformed into “health anxiousness”. If you become too obsessed about your health and if you get too apprehensive that you are suffering from a severe illness (without the presence of such medical symptoms), then you may be experiencing health anxiety. In the past, psychologists referred to this as “hypochondria”. However, it is now called Illness Anxiety Disorder.

Illness Anxiety Disorder is a somatic symptom disorder in which the person suffering from it gets overly anxious or obsessed over his/her physical conditions. They see even a minor problem as an exaggerated severe illness. People suffering from Illness Anxiety Disorder often require continuous care, support and assurance from health service providers, family and acquaintances.

See if you recognize yourself in the symptoms of health anxiety:

Being preoccupied with having or developing a serious disease or health condition
Worrying that minor symptoms or body sensations mean you have a serious illness
Being easily alarmed about your health status
Finding little or no reassurance from doctor visits or negative test results
Worrying excessively about a specific medical condition or your risk of developing a medical condition because it runs in your family
Having so much distress about possible illnesses that it's hard for you to function
Repeatedly checking your body for signs of illness or disease
Frequently making medical appointments for reassurance — or avoiding medical care for fear of being diagnosed with a serious illness
Avoiding people, places or activities for fear of health risks
Constantly talking about your health and possible illnesses
Frequently searching the internet for causes of symptoms or possible illnesses

What’s more, people with Illness Anxiety Disorder can also experience additional mental health issues, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Clinical Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Treatment Procedures

The good news is that Illness Anxiety Disorder can be treated. Effective methods of treatment include Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy and support. You can receive these types of treatment here at Online Therapy.

Reviews

Our online therapy services have received 3377 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"This has been a life and marriage altering experience for me and my husband in the best way possible. We are listening to each other, communicating, and making huge decisions together that we never could have made without this platform or our incredible counselor Nicole!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"It has helped me tremendously. Thank you!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Great service!"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I think the video sessions really help out a lot talking to the therapist face to face!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"These worksheets are really helpful. I've been forced to do a lot of worksheets in my life as a person with BPD but the advice on here is properly thought out and profound rather than just trying to cover up the problem with "skills", and the questions on the worksheets are insightful and helped me have some important realisaions."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Really helpful"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I really like the chat option to talk to my therapist because it gives me enough time and space to sit down whenever I can, given my unpredictable schedule - it's really helpful to know that I can seek for help whenever I can. The platform is intuitive, very direct and straightforward and you won't get lost using it."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Helpful"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"This has been so very helpful! Very easy to schedule, the convenience is unparalleled. Therapy has been a huge boon for me."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I have been working with Dr J. for several months now and she has helped more in the past few months than I have ever encountered with any other therapist! Dr J has a way of making me feel extremely comfortable to be myself and this allows my walls to stay down and remain open minded during our sessions. Her processes are solution based and I feel like she has an excellent sense of what real talk therapy can do to help many people with varying topics. My time spent with Dr J is well worth it and I always walk away from my sessions feeling lighter, happier and more confident knowing she has taught and given to me the tools to stay on track! Thank you, Dr J!!"

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