Health Anxiety Treatment
Feeling anxious and worried about your health?
Health Anxiety usually follows a period of intense anxiety related to a health issue. It may be that you suddenly experience symptoms that you have never experienced before and you felt like you were going to die. This can include a racing heard, tinnitus, dizziness, or some form of sudden pain in the body. It makes sense that we want to find out what was causing the problem and we want to find a cure.
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So perhaps we begin by seeking medical help and we find we are passed from one expert to the next but without any understanding or explanation. We might then spend hours googling our symptoms or reading articles or talking to people about our health problem but without the answers we need. This can lead to ever increasing symptoms of anxiety and low mood.
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Symptoms associated with unexplained health symptoms are:
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Feeling anxious, nervous and fearful for the future.
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Racing, worrisome or negative thoughts about whether you will every find a cure.
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Feeling compelled to keep searching for an answer, no matter how many hours in the day this takes up.
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Sleeping poorly because of racing thoughts or sleeping too much due to exhaustion.
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Feeling tired all the time with little energy to do things.
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Feeling low in mood or depressed.
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No interest in things or experiencing less pleasure in things you used to enjoy.
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Perhaps you find you are not able to concentrate on things as well because your mind is filled up with your worries.
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When we are really low we at times begin to think life is not worth living or that life has become so draining that we feel we would be quite happy to fall asleep and never wake up.​​​
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Treatment for Health Anxiety
Often, when people with health anxiety are referred to a psychologist, they will think people believe the problem is in their head. As psychologists, we are not here to tell you that the problem is in your head but to guide you to live a life that is as enjoyable as it can be. Sometimes this is helping you understand that particular behaviours that might be maintaining the problem. For example, we all know that if we google something we can find information that lends weight to our belief. Equally so, someone with an opposite belief can find information that backs up their belief. So, if I have a racing heart it might well be a serious problem and I do need to seek medical advice. But, if I have met with a cardiologist and had all the tests I need on my heart and I have been told that there are no medical problems, then it might be that my racing heart is due to anxiety. In such cases, we will help you to reduce your anxiety. In other situations, it might be that you have an unexplained medical condition that you find impacts negatively on your life. In such situations, although we understand that you want to find a cure for your medical condition, we want you to find a life that is as enjoyable as it can be whilst living with the condition you have.
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During therapy we will look at the types of thoughts and behaviours that you do that actually lead to increased anxiety and low mood. People with health anxiety will carry out behaviours that actually make the situation worse. Some examples of this is where we avoid exercise because we feel fearful that we will make the situation worse; we may stop living because we become so focused on finding a cure; we may over work on days that we feel good and avoid activities on days we feel bad. We may begin to avoid pleasurable activities because we fear they will impact negatively on our health. As psychologists with can not cure the health issue but we can work with you to help you lead a more fulfilled life.
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As psychologists, we can work with you to look at all of the different things that may be influencing your problem - this could be related to your history or things in your current life and we will provide you with understanding and strategies to help you back on to the path towards feeling better.
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Our team can provide Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychotherapy, or other therapies such as ACT, CFT, EMDR, CAT, Psychodynamic. Existential and Integrative Psychotherapy. Be in touch if you are not sure what you need or what you are looking for and we will match you with the right therapist for your problem.
Meet The Team
At Dr Stuart Psychologists, all of our psychologists have extensive training to doctoral level and decades of experience in their field of expertise. You will be matched with a psychologist that has the knowledge and skill to help you understand and overcome your problem - not just in the short term but for good.