This could be something that is familiar to you. Being caught in the 'whoosh' of a thought where anxiety sharply rises, and which takes you on a Google checking and high anxiety curve. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Health anxiety can be all-consuming, but the good news is that there are actionable steps to take back control. Let’s explore these together.
What Is Health Anxiety and Why Does It Happen?
Health anxiety, or illness anxiety disorder, involves excessive worry about having or developing a serious illness. It's not just about physical symptoms—it’s about the fear of the unknown, much like the core of anxiety issues - the desire to know 100% that something 'bad' will not happen. Yet. we all know, that living with uncertainty is what all of us do on a daily basis and getting people with anxiety, to be able to work towards this, is a key part of therapy work.
Take Sarah, for example (name changed for privacy). Sarah noticed a small bump on her arm and immediately thought, What if it’s cancer? She couldn't focus at work, spent hours Googling symptoms (not helpful to do), and visited multiple doctors. Even after being reassured that it was harmless, her worry persisted. Like many with health anxiety, Sarah’s brain was stuck in a cycle of fear and reassurance-seeking, which only made her anxiety worse.
So here are some basic steps that may help.
Step 1: Challenge Your Thoughts
Health anxiety often stems from catastrophic thinking - a form of distorted thinking. For Sarah, a harmless bump became a sign of something life-threatening, demonstrating a significant jump in catastrophe thinking based on assumptions that her brain had made.
To challenge thoughts like these, try asking yourself:
- What’s the evidence? Is there actual proof of a serious illness, or are you assuming the worst?
- What’s the most likely explanation? Most symptoms, like headaches or fatigue, have benign causes.
- What happened last time? Reflecting on past worries that turned out to be false can help put current fears into perspective.
Sarah started journaling her thoughts, which helped her notice patterns in her anxiety and recognize when her fears weren’t grounded in reality. This therefore gave her much needed perspective.
Step 2: Set Boundaries on Reassurance-Seeking
One of the biggest traps of health anxiety is the urge to seek constant reassurance. Googling symptoms, visiting multiple doctors, or repeatedly asking loved ones if you're "okay" might help temporarily, but it reinforces the anxiety long-term.
Instead, limit these behaviours. For example:
- Schedule specific times for checking symptoms—say, 5 minutes once a day at most.
- Replace reassurance-seeking with mindfulness exercises. Focusing on your breath or using grounding techniques can help reduce the urge to Google or worry.
- Mindfulness means being aware, taking the chance to 'step back' and not immediately engage with the thought as if it is true. It also means getting curious as to what may have triggered the thought etc. However, mindfulness needs committed action and repeated trying so that it becomes a behaviour pattern that can provide you with some detachment from triggering thoughts, instead of fusing with them and engaging with their cycles.
Sarah therefore decided to uninstall symptom-checking apps from her phone and commit to calling her doctor only if a symptom persisted for more than a week.
Step 3: Focus on What You Can Control
Health anxiety thrives on the what-ifs. Redirecting your energy towards what you can control can provide relief:
- Healthy habits: Regular exercise, balanced eating, and good sleep habits support your overall well-being. Sleep is exceptionally important and getting into a good sleep pattern should be the start of reviewing patterns of behaviour that can help to reduce the intensity of anxiety.
- Routine check-ups: Trust your doctor’s guidance instead of seeking multiple opinions. Trying to get multiple opinions simply fuels health anxiety and keeps it going and also means that an individual does not trust in their judgement, further weakening their confidence in themselves.
Sarah began prioritizing exercise, which not only improved her physical health but also gave her a healthy outlet for her anxious energy.
Step 4: Break the Cycle of Overthinking
Overthinking is another element that is associated with anxiety. In Sarah's case she found herself overthinking about her health, so she started using these strategies:
- Timeboxing: She set a timer for 10 minutes to think about her worries. Once the timer was up, she moved on to another activity. However, one of the things that I worked with Sarah on, was not just thinking or worrying in the 10 minutes, but trying to problem-solve what was causing her anxiety so there could be a possible solution instead of worrying about worry.
- Reflecting on whether there were patterns that she could associate with her thinking, such as, if they happened in the past, did something catastrophic happen about her health? When asked, her response was no and this was the key point.
- Working Towards Her Goals in Life: She turned to hobbies like painting and walking her dog which she liked and which gave her the space and time to feel her authenticity and to carry out what mattered to her. We worked on keeping her moving and acting towards her life goals instead of being caught up in health ruminations and over-thinking.
- Grounding techniques: By practicing the 5-4-3-2-1 method (naming five things she could see, four she could touch, etc.), Sarah learned to stay present.
Step 5: Learn to Tolerate Uncertainty
Sarah realized her health anxiety was fuelled by a need for certainty—an impossible standard. Learning to sit with uncertainty became a game-changer for her. Whilst this took some work and practice, Sarah realised that this was possible with practice and working through the 'anxiety curve'.
She began practicing acceptance, telling herself, It’s okay to feel anxious. I don’t need to have all the answers right now. With time, she found that acknowledging her fears without acting on them lessened their intensity.
You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
Health anxiety can feel isolating, but support is available. Whether you’re struggling to challenge anxious thoughts, limit reassurance-seeking, or simply need guidance to navigate your journey, I’m here to help.
As a therapist specializing in anxiety and OCD, I’ve worked with many clients like Sarah to help them break free from the grip of health anxiety and build more peaceful, fulfilling lives.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to help you take the next step. Contact me today to schedule a free consultation if you would like.
