Health Anxiety and Illness Anxiety Disorder Treatment in Sycamore and North Aurora ILIf you are interested in counseling for Health Anxiety, call OakHeart at 630-570-0050 or 779-201-6440 or email us at [email protected]. We have counselors, psychologists, and social workers available to help you at one of our locations in North Aurora, IL, Sycamore, IL, and/or via Telehealth Online Therapy Services serving Kane County, DeKalb County, Dupage County, and beyond.
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What is Health Anxiety?Individuals with Health Anxiety, also known as Illness Anxiety Disorder (formerly known as Hypochondriasis), are extremely anxious, pre-occupied, and distressed about having or acquiring a serious illness. These fears are inappropriate or excessive and may include a misinterpretation of benign internal cues (e.g., heart racing), medical conditions (e.g., muscle strain, headache, cough) or physical abnormalities (e.g., rash, mole). Some individuals with health anxiety may have a diagnosed medical condition; however, the pre-occupation with and fears associated with this medical condition are considered to be excessive or disproportionate in relation to the actual threat.
Individuals with health anxiety may spend significant amounts of time worrying about their health, checking/inspecting their bodies for signs of illness (e.g., feeling for lumps), monitoring or recording their symptoms, searching the internet for illnesses they feel they either have or will get, looking for reassurance from others, talk excessively about their symptoms to others, etc. They may go to the doctor repeatedly looking for reassurance, struggle to believe feedback from doctor's that they don't have a medical problem, and may "doctor shop." They may also avoid triggers all together. For example, they may avoid going to the doctor or hospital for fear of being diagnosed or found out to have a horrible grave illness, avoid being around others with illnesses, avoid physical activity, etc. Sometimes, health anxiety follows a traumatic experience involving one's health (e.g., cancer) or involving a loved one (e.g., watching a parent die of cancer), and the trauma may need to be addressed in addition to the health anxiety. |
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How do you Treat Health Anxiety?
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an effective and safe treatment for Health Anxiety. CBT is based on the principle that thoughts and beliefs, emotions, physical symptoms, and behaviors are all intricately related. The goal of CBT for health anxiety is to help alter unhelpful ways of thinking and reduce or eliminate the avoidance, checking, and safety behaviors that maintain the individual's fears. Treatment typically includes psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, and exposure-based strategies that help clients gradually face their feared situations, such as going to the doctor, being around others who are ill, or tolerating physical sensations without interpreting them catastrophically. In doing so, the individual learns that they are overestimating the likelihood of having or developing a serious illness and that they can tolerate uncertainty and manage their emotions effectively. When health anxiety has roots in a traumatic health experience, trauma-focused interventions may also be incorporated into the treatment plan.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is another evidence-based approach that can be particularly well-suited for health anxiety. Rather than focusing primarily on changing the content of anxious thoughts, ACT helps individuals change their relationship with those thoughts. In health anxiety, individuals often become fused with their fears, treating thoughts like "I might have cancer" as facts that must be resolved before they can move forward with their lives. ACT helps clients learn to observe these thoughts without getting entangled in them, make room for the discomfort and uncertainty that health fears produce, and commit to living a full and valued life even in the presence of uncertainty about their health. Given that health anxiety is often fundamentally driven by intolerance of uncertainty, the ACT framework of accepting uncertainty rather than fighting it can be a powerful complement to traditional CBT approaches. Clinicians at OakHeart may incorporate ACT strategies into treatment when clinically appropriate or when requested by clients.
Our team of psychologists, licensed counselors, and social workers in North Aurora and Sycamore, Illinois provides evidence-based treatment for Health Anxiety and Illness Anxiety Disorder to clients throughout Kane County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, and the surrounding Chicago suburbs, including in-person and telehealth options.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is another evidence-based approach that can be particularly well-suited for health anxiety. Rather than focusing primarily on changing the content of anxious thoughts, ACT helps individuals change their relationship with those thoughts. In health anxiety, individuals often become fused with their fears, treating thoughts like "I might have cancer" as facts that must be resolved before they can move forward with their lives. ACT helps clients learn to observe these thoughts without getting entangled in them, make room for the discomfort and uncertainty that health fears produce, and commit to living a full and valued life even in the presence of uncertainty about their health. Given that health anxiety is often fundamentally driven by intolerance of uncertainty, the ACT framework of accepting uncertainty rather than fighting it can be a powerful complement to traditional CBT approaches. Clinicians at OakHeart may incorporate ACT strategies into treatment when clinically appropriate or when requested by clients.
Our team of psychologists, licensed counselors, and social workers in North Aurora and Sycamore, Illinois provides evidence-based treatment for Health Anxiety and Illness Anxiety Disorder to clients throughout Kane County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, and the surrounding Chicago suburbs, including in-person and telehealth options.
Frequently Asked Questions About Health Anxiety
Is health anxiety the same as hypochondria?
Health anxiety is the current clinical term for what was previously called hypochondria or hypochondriasis. The diagnostic label was updated in the DSM-5 to Illness Anxiety Disorder (and in some cases Somatic Symptom Disorder), reflecting a more accurate and less stigmatizing understanding of the condition. While the terminology has been updated to reduce stigma and improve diagnostic precision, the underlying clinical presentation is similar: persistent preoccupation with having or developing a serious illness, despite medical evaluation that does not support the feared diagnosis.
Is it possible to have health anxiety and also have a real medical condition?
Yes, and this is an important point. Having a diagnosed medical condition does not rule out health anxiety. Some individuals with genuine medical conditions also develop excessive anxiety about their health that goes beyond what is proportionate to their actual medical situation. In these cases, treatment addresses both the anxiety and helps the individual develop a more balanced relationship with their health and medical care.
How is health anxiety different from GAD?
Both health anxiety and GAD involve excessive worry, but they differ in focus. In GAD, worry tends to span multiple life domains including finances, relationships, work, and safety. In health anxiety, the worry is specifically and persistently focused on health and illness. Some individuals experience both conditions simultaneously, which is why thorough assessment is important.
Why does googling my symptoms make my health anxiety worse?
This is one of the most common patterns we see in health anxiety. Internet symptom searching provides brief temporary relief from anxiety but actually strengthens the anxious cycle over time. Search results almost always include serious diagnoses among the possibilities, which confirms the individual's fears and drives further searching. It is a compulsive reassurance-seeking behavior that maintains rather than resolves health anxiety, and breaking this pattern is an important part of treatment.
Health anxiety is the current clinical term for what was previously called hypochondria or hypochondriasis. The diagnostic label was updated in the DSM-5 to Illness Anxiety Disorder (and in some cases Somatic Symptom Disorder), reflecting a more accurate and less stigmatizing understanding of the condition. While the terminology has been updated to reduce stigma and improve diagnostic precision, the underlying clinical presentation is similar: persistent preoccupation with having or developing a serious illness, despite medical evaluation that does not support the feared diagnosis.
Is it possible to have health anxiety and also have a real medical condition?
Yes, and this is an important point. Having a diagnosed medical condition does not rule out health anxiety. Some individuals with genuine medical conditions also develop excessive anxiety about their health that goes beyond what is proportionate to their actual medical situation. In these cases, treatment addresses both the anxiety and helps the individual develop a more balanced relationship with their health and medical care.
How is health anxiety different from GAD?
Both health anxiety and GAD involve excessive worry, but they differ in focus. In GAD, worry tends to span multiple life domains including finances, relationships, work, and safety. In health anxiety, the worry is specifically and persistently focused on health and illness. Some individuals experience both conditions simultaneously, which is why thorough assessment is important.
Why does googling my symptoms make my health anxiety worse?
This is one of the most common patterns we see in health anxiety. Internet symptom searching provides brief temporary relief from anxiety but actually strengthens the anxious cycle over time. Search results almost always include serious diagnoses among the possibilities, which confirms the individual's fears and drives further searching. It is a compulsive reassurance-seeking behavior that maintains rather than resolves health anxiety, and breaking this pattern is an important part of treatment.
OakHeart Health Anxiety Counselors, Psychologists, and Social Workers
Health Anxiety Related Blogs:
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Of note, feeling anxious and worried about health can be a normal experience for many people over the course of our lives. And, anxiety itself is not necessarily a bad thing and is meant to protect us in the face of actual danger. It becomes a problem though when it becomes excessive, distressing, impacts quality of life, and when it occurs in response to unlikely or unrealistic threats. Individuals with Health Illness Anxiety Disorder tend to experience excessive anxiety, both in terms of intensity and frequency of that anxiety, and their fears tend to be out of proportion to the actual likelihood and cost of having what they are afraid of occurring. Their fears also tend to persist, despite reassurances that their fears are unlikely to occur (e.g., via doctor’s visits, tests, etc.)...(to read more, click on the link above).
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