Why we've all got Health Anxiety

Have you ever seen your healthcare professional, been reassured that you dont have a problem but then spend the next 6 months obsessing about it?

If so, you may have health anxiety. The formal definition of this is:

“an obsessive and irrational worry about having a serious medical condition or the misinterpretation of normal body sensations as serious disease despite reassurance by medical professionals.”

Covid has made this a million times worse with rolling news coverage and daily death tolls ramping up people's anxiety to near apocalyptic levels.

I've been surprised at how common this has become, especially in the younger, professional, stressed out demographic.

Healthcare professionals generally do a poor job of diagnosing this or calling a "spade a spade;" they have a habit of lumping any type of anxiety into the umbrella term of "generalised anxiety disorder" which covers a multitudes of anxiety related sins.

Health anxiety is its very own style of problem. The good news is that it can be solved with therapy (CBT) and some tools and tips to manage anxiety. The bad news is that it tends to get much worse if you brush it under the carpet or don't seek help and it really can have a profound effect on your quality of life.

I've been impressed with some of the tools that people use to self manage their anxiety. Here are some that my patients swear by:

Headspace
Calm
My possible self: The mental health app
Worrytree

Thanks for watching!