Hypochondria and Mental Health: The Link Between Anxiety and Illness

Mental Health Training

Have you ever experienced anxiety about your health, even when there’s no medical reason to do so?

Perhaps you worry about having a severe illness, despite your doctor reassuring you that you’re healthy. This anxiety could be a sign of illness anxiety disorder.

Illness anxiety disorder (IAD), formerly called hypochondria or hypochondriasis, is a type of anxiety disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. It can cause individuals to become overly concerned about their health, often to the point of extreme obsession.

While occasional worries about health care are usual, an illness anxiety disorder can seriously impact a person’s quality of life. Those with an Illness anxiety disorder may constantly seek reassurance from doctors and repeatedly undergo tests and procedures, even when there’s no evidence of illness.

In this case, somebody with IAD obsessively focuses on their health and body, self-examining and self-diagnosing. This stress can occur even if there is no medical condition present, and if there is, their anxiety is disproportionate to the severity of the illness. IAD causes severe psychological distress and physical disability, thereby disrupting daily functioning.

In this article, we’ll look at the symptoms of illness anxiety disorder, why it occurs, and how it can be treated.

Symptoms

The symptoms of an Illness Anxiety Disorder include:

1. Constant preoccupation with having or developing a severe medical condition;
2. Interpreting minor symptoms as major illnesses; feeling easily frightened by existing health status;
3. Finding little reassurance from healthcare professionals or negative test results;
4. Experiencing excessive distress about potential illnesses that hinder daily functioning;
5. Repeatedly checking the body for signs of disease;
6. Persistently seeking medical attention for reassurance or avoiding care due to the fear of diagnosis;
7. Avoiding people, places, or activities due to health concerns;
8. Discussing health and possible illnesses frequently and repeatedly searching the internet for information on causes, symptoms, and potential diseases.

Classification of symptoms

The illness anxiety disorder has two types:

Care-seeking and care-avoidant

1. Care-seeking individuals seek regular reassurance from doctors despite expected test results and discuss their symptoms with others.

2. Care-avoidant individuals avoid doctor visits and sharing their worries with loved ones out of fear of bad news or not being taken care of.

Causes of Illness Anxiety Disorder

Illness anxiety disorder has been linked to several risk factors:

1. An irrational belief that all bodily sensations will indicate a profound illness.

2. A personal inclination to worry about health.

3. A family history of anticipatory stress or anxiety disorders, like depression, mood and anxiety disorders, etc.

4. A history of childhood illness and exposure to serious illness within the family.

5. persistent stress.

6. childhood abuse and trauma.

7. excessive use of health-related websites.

It is necessary to consider these factors when evaluating patients for an illness anxiety disorder.

Diagnosis

This disorder’s diagnosis is per DSM-5 criteria

For illness anxiety disorder. If a person has health anxiety (or other illness anxiety disorder symptoms) for six months or longer—even after tests show an absence of disease—a medical practitioner may diagnose the person with IAD.

The affected person undergoes physical examinations for substance use or any physical ailment. Based on the results, the primary care provider refers the patient to a mental health professional (MHP) who may review the affected person’s symptoms, stressful life situations, family history of mental health disorders, etc.

The patient may also be requested to fill out psychological self-assessments. The MHP carries out a differential diagnosis.

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