Health Anxiety Disorder – How to Manage Your Symptoms

Health anxiety (also known as hypochondriasis) is when you spend too much time worrying about getting sick or actually getting sick. If you:

Often check your body for symptoms of illness, including stomach aches, sore muscles, numbness or even pain in your hands and feet. You spend a lot of time with self-help and cognitive behavior therapy to try to relieve your health anxiety. While these therapies are helpful, they do not cure your worries and fears. In fact, they may make them worse.

People with health anxiety often find themselves in the position of worrying about minor symptoms of a sickness, like a headache, and taking all possible precautions about having an illness. The only thing that is truly serious is the worry about having a serious illness. This is why medication can help you. It shifts your mind from worrying to thinking that there is no reason to be worried.

Unfortunately, your health anxiety leads you to be preoccupied with symptoms. This means that you are distracted from doing your daily life and putting your feelings into words. So, instead of feeling better or being in control of your life, you experience feelings of sadness, hopelessness, guilt, and even fear about being sick or possibly having a serious illness. These feelings can be debilitating because they keep you from living your life to the fullest.

Many health-related anxiety disorders are related to stress and depression. One of the main symptoms of high stress or depression is post-traumatic stress disorder. People with post-traumatic stress disorder worry about their lives constantly, even if there is not a present threat. They have constant and severe thoughts about violence, death, disaster, and other scary things. Another symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder is the inability to sleep well at night, leading to excessive sleepiness during the day. This person ends up becoming extremely tired and may experience insomnia.

If your symptoms are caused by a physical illness, then self-help is what you need. There are many self-help books available and online, as well as health and wellness centers and support groups. Your doctor can recommend some self-help programs for health anxiety.

If your symptoms are caused by self-inflicted trauma and negative thoughts, then you need therapy. Therapy can help you cope with your self-inflicted illness worries and the symptoms that go along with them. A person does not have to live with chronic health anxiety in order to find peace and relief. With the right assistance, a person can get rid of the obsessive thoughts and develop a healthier and more realistic way of thinking.

Do not ignore the physical symptoms of health anxiety disorder. The longer these symptoms are ignored, the more severe they will become. Once these symptoms become severe enough, you may find yourself experiencing hallucinations and delirium. You do not have to live with chronic health anxiety disorder. Find help!

Some people mistake health anxiety or panic attacks for heart palpitations, diarrhea, indigestion or even sweating. These feelings are not appropriate responses. They cause undue stress and worry, which can lead to physical problems. When health anxiety takes over, it can interfere with everyday life. It can create feelings of intense dread and concern about health and safety, and it interferes with the ability to get things done. It can also prevent a person from getting the appropriate amount of sleep.

If you have too much worry and fear about being sick, then it is possible you are not getting the proper amount of restorative sleep necessary for good mental health and the alleviation of illness sensations. The body needs to be relaxed for it to function properly. People who suffer from anxiety often do not get adequate restorative sleep. This means their bodies are always operating within a heightened state of awareness, and they cannot relax. Health anxiety and its accompanying sensations are a form of sleep deprivation.

Many people experience heightened mental health-related anxiety disorder symptoms when they have this condition. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, of losing control and being unable to control certain things in your life, then you probably have too much worry and fear. You may also find yourself obsessing over small health-related issues, such as urinary incontinence, digestion problems and skin problems.

The solution to your health-related anxiety disorders is to find a treatment for this problem. Prescription medications often work well to provide relief from your health-related anxiety disorders. These medications usually take several weeks before they begin to work. However, they provide significant relief from the symptoms associated with this condition. In addition, many people find that they can get immediate relief from these symptoms by using an over the counter medicine like Xanax.