Health Worry
(Hypochondriasis)
Discover
The rationale for treating health worries like spam.
Health Worry
Real Symptom, Wrong Conclusion
A peculiar and very disturbing type of worry problem is health worry. People who contact me with this complaint tell me that when they are on a worry “jag” about their health, they cannot focus on anything else. It is very disruptive and interferes with work and other things they need to be doing.
An example of health worry goes like this: An individual gets a splitting headache and starts thinking, “Something’s wrong. What if I’m having a stroke! Maybe I have a brain tumor!” This is followed by a frenzy of activity which might include some or all of the following:
- Looking up information on Google;
- Running to their partner for comfort and reassurance;
- Calling a doctor’s office to schedule an appointment – – ASAP;
- Consulting another medical specialist, and another
- More worry and Googling.
If you have this type of worry you know what I mean.
Real Symptoms,
Incorrect Interpretation
The most important thing for you to know about health worry is this:
The sensation you’re feeling is real, it’s not in your head. The problem is that you’re assuming it’s serious. The issue here is your inability to tolerate uncertainty. You want to know for sure that this feeling in your body isn’t serious. So you go on an endless quest to find out what’s wrong, or – – more accurately – – to disprove that you have a serious health problem. But, no matter how much information and reassurance you get – – including from multiple physicians – – you are never satisfied. You think:
“What if the doctor missed something?” “Maybe I need to see a (another) specialist.”
And on and on it goes.
The real problem isn’t the health issue you’re worrying about. WORRY is the problem! You have a worry disorder, not serious health problem.
[Note: Of course, it is possible to both have a significant medical problem and a worry problem. But the majority of individuals who contact me about health worry do not have a serious medical condition.]
The More You Worry,
The Worse You Feel
Once you start worrying and focusing your attention on your bodily sensations, what do you notice about the symptoms? Right, they get worse! That’s because your worry thoughts are triggering (or exacerbating) physical feelings of anxiety. Anxiety thrives on attention. So the more you focus on your body, the worse you feel!
There’s another relationship between your thoughts and feelings: the feeling of being anxious makes thoughts seem real, urgent. It’s a trick – – and you’ve been falling for it. Think of it like this: anxiety is causing your brain to send you a bunch of spam – – and you’re opening it up!
Health Worry
Treatment
How do you deal with spam when it comes to your email account? You delete it without opening it up, right? You know that opening it up could cause problems, like a virus.
Well, the best way to overcome health worry is to ignore it: don’t open up the spam!
Easier said than done, right? You are correct. This is especially true because we do not have the power to delete our thoughts. But you do have the option to ignore them by treating them like background noise.
I will teach you:
- Why these disturbing thoughts make you feel so anxious.
- When to ignore the thoughts and treat them like spam.
- How to do this – – meaning how to respond differently to your health worries.
How To Get Started
Contact Me Today
I offer a free phone consultation to discuss your situation, answer your questions and tell you how I would approach treating your problem.
