What’s it called when you think you have every disease?

We’ve all been there. Your head starts to ache, your stomach feels funny, and suddenly you’re convinced that you have some rare tropical illness. You frantically start googling your symptoms and before long, you’re sure that a team of specialists will need to be flown in from another country just to save your life.

But what happens when this kind of health anxiety takes over completely? When every twinge or tingle sends ripples of panic through your body? When no matter how many doctors tell you that everything is fine, deep down inside – you just know something’s not right?

The worrying world of hypochondria

Welcome to the wonderful world of hypochondria. Often known as health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder (IAD), it’s a condition where people become obsessed with their own health and mistakenly interpret normal bodily sensations as signs of serious medical problems.

While we might joke about being a bit “hypochondriacal” when we run out of tissues at work or sense the slightest hint of nausea after indulging in too much pizza, for those who truly struggle with IAD, it can be an overwhelming and distressing experience.

No one really knows why some people develop hypochondria more than others; currently theories range from genetics and past traumatic experiences, to societal factors such as easy access to online self-diagnosis tools .

Hypochondriacs are generally good at convincing themselves they’re dying

One thing most experts agree on though is that those with IAD often fall into patterns of ‘catastrophising’. This means they take small symptoms far out-of-context into big worries — until they seem like evidence so overwhelmingly beyond doubt its scary.

“Patients convince themselves 100% that there’s something incredibly sinister going on,” says Dr Sarah Jarvis , chairwoman of Patient Access . “They lose the ability to see other explanations and they start looking for confirmation bias, think ‘the doctor is missing something’ . They often become immensely frustrated that their fears aren’t being taken seriously, but it’s important to remember that doctors are used to hearing all sorts of weird and wonderful symptoms – and we’re pretty good at telling whether or not something needs further investigation or if it’s just a passing issue.”

When harmless health anxiety becomes debilitating

While everyone has worried about their health at some point in life, like with most mental illnesses there comes a time where hypochondriacs must learn how to manage & control symptoms as IAD can be quite debilitating. The condition occurs when sufferers allow these anxious thoughts regarding one’s own health overtake daily routines instead of seeking professional help.

Dr James Elander from University of Derby states “Normally this kind of worry is proportional – you feel pain or discomfort, so you look for reassurance/appropriate treatment,” he says. “However in IAD cases, this balance gets tipped over.” Some individuals could seek endless MRI scans , meeting multiple specialty physicians , while others end up checking on their body every hour .

Inside the mind of an hypochondriac

So what exactly — obsesses people who struggle with chronic health anxiety think? And how do those obsessive thoughts translate into cascading moods which hijack rational decisions?

According Renee Bynum , LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) “A lot more negative than positive thought patterns come into play here.” Before realizing she had herpes zoster virus (shingles), Susan Fishman was convinced her headache was caused by meningitis because she caught sight someone coughing on the TV news without knowing any context about that everyday circumstance.

“The minute someone feels pain,they believe they’re going die,” says Ms Fisher in frustration. She continues: “It’s really hard for me to tell the difference between whether I’m catastrophizing really severely or whether there’s actually something wrong with me.”

Things which can trigger hypochondria

While anxiety sufferers are known for being introspective and self-aware, even they might not realize what sets off an episode of health panic. Several factors can provoke heavy-handed IAD symptoms; a common one is a recent illness that triggered aggressive overthinking of every subsequent sniffle. Others more often focus on immediate surroundings – Take pandemic-related paranoia as an example.

Health anxiety comes at huge cost in terms of quality of life , some individuals become hyper focused 100%/time devoted to medical concerns take several hours weekly going through communities in seachssaurus for friends experiencing similar symptoms fearing its effecting their job performance / personal lexicon repitoire becomes overly concerned about anything medical.

“It’s all-encompassing,” agrees Fisher. “It ruins everything.”

Getting help and shifting from unhealthy to productive worrying

So if you’re struggling with hypochondria, what should you do? Well,the first stepis recognising that your fears may be driven by irrational thoughts .Try reminding yourself kind answers such as “Millions get the flu and live,” says Ms Fisher. However — it is important this methodology does not degrade or diminish any real physical pain felt. Another suggestion is have another person clear up doubts.

Next – seek professional advice from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) , psychiatry specialist instead of secretly hoping medications will make bothering health worries cease .

On a final note— has anyone else noticed how weird it feels lately whenever we cough? Like everyone within earshot suddenly slides away like we’re carriers for the Zombie-diseased person du-jour ? Maybe ask them out to lunch afterwards…they obviously need someone normal to talk too after living locked-down also.#

Summing up Hypochondria

Hypochondrium and health anxiety tends to be a major fear, where fears are blown out of proportion creating an immense stress upon daily living. Individual’s thought patterns become almost entirely negative – causing day-long worry about a variety of mundane environments. Reassurance is found through endlessly ‘if’-ing scenarios for when / if something does go wrong.

However — with the appropriate measures in place like seeking professional help such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), doctors appointments and learning how to self-administer positive self-talk it is possible people can learn how to reframe unhealthy obsessive worrying into more productive forms .

Random Posts