What Is Hypochondria?

Hypochondria (Health Anxiety) in its most basic form is defined as the constant worry about your health. This worry manifests itself into something that will cause much distress and will harm your ability to function properly.

Hypochondria will make you form the belief that you are suffering from serious illness outside of a professional opinion. It is often accompanied by OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), stress, and anxiety.

What if I have cancer?

What if this symptom leads to something deadly?

Is this a sign of heart disease?

People with Health Anxiety often associate symptoms like headaches, swollen lymph nodes, tiredness, etc. to serious illnesses by way of self-diagnosis. No matter how infinitely small the chance of having an actual serious illness is to that symptom, a hypochondriac will feel as if they are the exception. They will ask themselves questions like the ones on the right.

Finding an exact cause to Hypochondria because it really does vary from person to person. Its subjectivity can be pin-pointed to common causes though. Some of these include:

• Stressful period in life such as the death or illness of a close family member or friend
• Personality; some people worry more than others or are over-thinkers
• Depression
• A general Anxiety Disorder

Why is Hypochondria/Health Anxiety dangerous?

This question leads to the root of why hypochondria can be detrimental to overall mental health. It is what many consider a vicious circle in the sense that once you start to worry, you'll be prompted into a state of depression or anxiety. It will make you self-check every square inch of your body until you find the slightest bump or abnormality. Once this abnormality is found, you'll add it onto any other symptoms you may already have in your mind.

You'll begin consulting your doctor or doctors on a regular basis until you reach the point where you no longer believe them because your research has told you otherwise. You do things like constantly searching up symptoms on Google until you read the words 'cancer' or 'heart disease'.

Do I have Hypochondria/Health Anxiety?

Ask these questions to find out whether or not you suffer from anxiety about your health. If you answer YES to most of them, chances are you are a hypochondriac.

During the past six months:

• Have you been preoccupied with having a serious illness because of body symptoms, which has lasted at least six months?
• Have you felt distressed because of this preoccupation?
• Have you found this preoccupation impacts negatively on all areas of life including family life, social life and work?
• Have you felt you have needed to carry out constant self-examination and self-diagnosis?
• Have you experienced disbelief over a diagnosis from a doctor, or felt you are unconvinced by your doctor's reassurances that you are fine?
• Do you constantly need reassurance from doctors, family and friends that you are fine, even if you don't really believe what you are being told?