Home Mental Health AnxietyHow to Deal With a Hypochondriac

How to Deal With a Hypochondriac

13 Minutes

Edited & clinically reviewed by THE BALANCE Team

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CONTENTS

Hypochondria or hypochondriasis, also known as health anxiety, is a type of anxiety disorder. Hypochondriacs have an unreasonable fear of harm or sickness, which others may dismiss. They may, for instance, visit the doctor frequently or believe they have dangerous undetected ailments.

Understandably, you wish to prevent becoming sick or hurt. Most people avoid those situations by cleaning their hands, taking supplements, or avoiding being in the presence of sick people. Those who suffer from health anxiety or hypochondriasis, on the other hand, are worried about their current or future health to the extent that their daily lives are disrupted.

In the 5th edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), hypochondriasis is no more a diagnosable illness, however, the majority of cases that were originally identified as hypochondria are now categorized as an illness anxiety disorder (IAD) or somatic symptom disorder (SSD). Both of these disorders are classified as somatic symptoms and related disorders in the DSM-5, although only persons with somatic symptom disorder would experience symptoms psychosomatically from their worry.

If someone has illness anxiety or somatic symptom disorder, they may be concerned that their chronic health condition is deteriorating or developing complications. Others who are fit and healthy may assume they have a disease or condition that necessitates medical treatment.

Those with severe health anxiety who are unable to function normally may benefit from seeking help from a professional counselor or therapist.

A health assessment, physical examination, and any tests recommended by your health care provider will most likely be performed to determine a diagnosis. Your doctor can help you figure out whether you have any medical concerns that need to be treated and establish limitations on lab tests, imaging, and expert referrals.

A mental health professional may be referred to you by your primary care practitioner. He or she could:

Conduct a psychological assessment to discuss your symptoms, stressful situations, family background, anxieties or concerns, and how your anxiety is influencing your life.
Have you completed a self-assessment proforma or psychological quiz
Inquire about your usage of alcohol, drugs, or other substances.
Determine whether another mental problem, like generalized anxiety disorder or somatic symptom disorder, better explains your illness concern.

Symptoms of illness anxiety and somatic symptom disorder can have a substantial impact on a person’s quality of life, as well as on family members and friends. Engaging with a mental health expert can assist people in identifying and developing coping techniques that minimize symptoms while also addressing any underlying problems that may be contributing to anxiety and physical symptoms.

Various hypochondriasis treatments are offered by professionals from different therapeutic fields. When treating hypochondria, counselors and therapists would usually rule out the likelihood of a serious medical problem first. Some people with health anxiety avoid seeking medical help, and several of the behaviors connected with this aversion can appear as hypochondria on the surface.

A treatment strategy should take into account any co-occurring mental or physical health disorders, like diabetes, depression, OCD, or cancer.

Hypochondria Therapy

Hypochondriac symptoms treatment can include psychotherapy and, in some situations, psychiatric drugs. Apart from these mainstay treatments, hypochondria support groups can also help in relief from symptoms. The following are some examples of frequent methods of therapy that have been shown to effectively address the causes of health anxiety:

Treatment for hypochondria can include psychotherapy and, in some situations, psychiatric drugs. The following are some examples of frequent methods of therapy that have been shown to effectively address the causes of health anxiety:

CBT For Health Anxiety: Hypochondria is characterized by irrational or unreal concerns or beliefs about a health condition or symptom. CBT assists people in identifying their irrational and unreasonable beliefs and replaces them with more sensible and realistic ones.

Bibliotherapy: For many hypochondriacs, bibliotherapy may be a useful treatment technique because it can assist increase one’s understanding of a condition. In hypochondria bibliotherapy, books about overcoming hypochondria or literature that better explain and normalize the illness could be employed.

Behavioral Stress Management: This sort of therapy can help hypochondriacs reduce their stress levels and concern over a health problem or symptom by reducing their anxiety. While it may be beneficial to those who are actually at risk for a medical illness, it may also be beneficial to those who suffer from health anxiety.

Group Therapy: According to one study, group CBT is useful in reducing somatic symptoms associated with hypochondria. Group-style treatment, in addition to being cost-effective, may make it simpler for some people to identify irrational health-related ideas by allowing them to work with others who have similar health problems.

If you suspect you could be suffering from hypochondria or another related condition, it’s a good idea to see your doctor or a therapist for hypochondria first. Individual or talk therapy, in addition to the types of therapy outlined above, can be a beneficial initial step in addressing health anxiety in a safe, affirming environment and being directed to medical treatment if physical health is the main concern. Look for a therapist in your neighborhood.

Medication

If psychotherapy alone in relieving your health anxiety, it is usually all that is used to treat your problem. However, some persons do not respond to psychotherapy. If this is the case, your doctor may prescribe medicine.

This disorder is usually treated with antidepressants, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Medications intended to treat mood or anxiety disorders may also help if you have anxiety in addition to those diseases.

Some health anxiety drugs have substantial risks and negative effects. It’s critical to properly discuss your options for treatment with your doctors.

These self-care steps, in addition to professional treatment for sickness anxiety disorder, can help:

Cooperate with your service provider. Establish a regular schedule for meetings with your mental health expert or primary care provider to address your issues and create a trustworthy relationship. Set realistic limitations on tests, assessments, and referrals to specialists. Avoid seeking counsel from numerous doctors or going to the emergency room, as this can make it more difficult to organize your care and may result in repeated testing.

Use stress-reduction and relaxation practices. Anxiety can be reduced by learning stress management and relaxation techniques like progressive muscle relaxation.

Engage in some physical activity. A progressive activity program may help you enhance your functional ability while also soothing your mood and reducing your anxiety.

Take part in activities. Maintaining your involvement in your profession, as well as family and social interests, can help you cope.

Alcohol and recreational drugs should be avoided. Substance abuse can make it more difficult for you to receive treatment. If you need assistance quitting, talk to your primary care practitioner.

Avoid looking up possible diseases on the internet. Confusion and anxiety might result from a large amount of health information available, which may or may not be relevant to your circumstance. Talk to your primary care provider at your next planned appointment if you have any concerns about your symptoms.

Medical experts should treat unwarranted anxieties and fears about serious illnesses if successful treatment is to be achieved. If you are in the company of someone who suffers from hypochondria, offer them acceptance, education, and support, and urge them to get medical help.

You should also be aware of and supportive of your requirements in the meantime.

Encourage their treatment participation.

Illness anxiety is real. Also known as hypochondria, illness anxiety can negatively affect a person’s quality of life, wellbeing, emotions, functioning, and relationships.

When interacting with someone who has illness anxiety, others can become frustrated, critical, or invalidating. But it’s better to acknowledge the pain it causes and gently advise the nervous individual to get help.

Seeing your primary doctor is vital for two reasons. First, the primary doctor can assess if the illness anxiety is justified. Remember that even if the nervous individual has real health concerns, their worry may be out of proportion to those issues. Second, the main doctor can assess whether biological variables are causing or exacerbating the anxiety.

Mental health specialists address illness anxiety since it is a mental health disorder. Psychiatrists can assist reduce anxiety by evaluating, diagnosing, and prescribing drugs. Psychologists, clinical social workers, and mental health counselors can assist anxious individuals to manage and enhance their quality of life by providing talk therapy.

Learn about illness anxiety.

To best assist someone with an issue, it is helpful to understand the problem and some broad solutions. So learning about disease anxiety might be beneficial.

Begin with a Search on google for terms like:

“Illness anxiety disorder”
Hypochondriasis (the older term for illness anxiety)
Somatic disorders

If the individual you’re trying to help has any of the following, you may want to educate yourself:

Anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Or Worry
Panic Disorder, Or Panic Attacks
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

Encourage your helper to learn about illness anxiety, but not too much.

Encourage the individual you are looking to help to educate themselves as well. Ultimately, people must comprehend and manage their worries.

Knowing about anxiety can be challenging for anxious people since it might provoke anxiety. They may require encouragement to keep learning and seeking out useful information. In some instances, it may be beneficial to educate as a group.

You may recommend an excellent article, book, documentary, YouTube video, etc. to the individual you’re attempting to help. Or invite them to share what they’re reading or watching.

Learning about anxiety can assist them:

Enhancing their awareness of internal processes
Making them more conscious of spontaneous thoughts and feelings
Educating them on the causes of anxiety (where it comes from)
Letting them know they’re not alone and that support is available

Discuss illness anxiety with the individual you’re helping.

Allow the individual you’re attempting to help to talk about their disease anxiety. This means both educating yourselves together and providing a secure place for them to process their feelings and urges. It’s difficult to cope with someone who continuously feels they’re sick. It takes a lot of patience to hear repeated worries about symptoms.

You can be a good listener by paying attention to their worries. Focus on them for a time, create good eye contact, and listen carefully. Ask them for clarification and to express their feelings and impulses. Paraphrase what they say and describe what you notice (e.g., their mood). Allow them to have a sympathetic observer. Don’t be sick. Encourage children to express health concerns, but don’t join in. Be helpful but not overly concerned, and keep your responses neutral. Express your empathy without promoting their obsessive thinking.

The following are some of the key tips for dealing with hypochondriac family members:

Discourage unwanted research, extensive checking, and reassurance-seeking behavior.

A person with illness anxiety is constantly searching for indications or symptoms of illness, doing obsessive research, and seeking reassurance.

You should sympathize with the worried person’s situation, but discourage excessive worrying, checking, seeking reassurance, and research. Not getting into the health worry, aiding them with extra research, or reassuring them too frequently will just strengthen their obsessions. Instead, you can aid by reminding them of their disease anxiety knowledge, redirecting their attention, or reviewing coping methods. Remind them that their obsessive actions, while intended to reduce anxiety, actually aggravate it.

Avoid over-checking facts for them.

“Look at this.” “Feel this.” This may be more obvious if their disease anxiety is “care-seeking” rather than “care-avoiding.” In contrast, care-avoidant hypochondriacs are often certain they are dying and are too terrified to consult a doctor about it, either because they expect their darkest concerns to be verified or because they are afraid of treatment.

Sadly, excessive symptom checking is usually a compulsion, an anxiety-induced reflex. Compulsions such as checking are traditionally used to reduce anxiety, but they have the opposite impact in the long run. A person’s worry is validated when they act on it, and a positive reaction (such as reassurance or attention) is received. Giving in to their requests encourages them to ask for the same things repeatedly. Also, anxiety is quickly reactivated by the brain once a person has checked something or comforted themselves, so the relief is fleeting.

Repeated monitoring can cause greater anxiety than the anxiety itself. Checking is an anxiety-related behavior. That suggests they are acting on their anxiety, not just experiencing it. This can cause problems in relationships, employment, tasks, etc. because it interrupts what they were doing and possibly involves others.

Reassure, but not excessively.

The worried person might be reassured about their anxiety and their efforts to manage it. However, the more you talk about their unique health worry, the more you validate it as a topic and give it relevance and value. Even if you disprove their claims, mentioning the issue reinforces the health worry.

Remember that any alleviation from anxiety is fleeting and that the uneasiness will return shortly. Plus, giving reassurance about health issues reinforces the habit, making it more likely to reoccur.

Educate them on how to manage illness anxiety more successfully and autonomously.

Multiple coping strategies can help an anxious person handle their anxiety effectively:

Challenging negative thoughts
Assuring oneself that the issue is anxiety, not health.
Symptoms of emotional or stress turmoil (recognizing physical stress symptoms)
Fixing thinking flaws (like making assumptions, jumping to conclusions, overgeneralizing, believing false alarms, imagining worst-case scenarios, etc.)
Using self-affirmations
Positive “what-ifs”
Prayer or reading
Acceptance of fear, uncertainty, and discomfort

Behavioral methods

Anxiety exposure and prevention of response: Practicing anxiety tolerance without responding to it.

“Distract and delay:” Choosing to do anything else for 10 minutes before giving in. Temporarily delaying the compulsion should be increased until the nervous individual feels they can do so indefinitely

Limiting compulsive behaviors: Such as worrying, checking, researching, reassuring, or scheduling excessive doctor visits. These restrictions should be increased progressively until the obsessive behaviors occur at a typical frequency or duration.

Promoting effective coping strategies: Recognizing, praising, and rewarding efforts and achievements with healthy coping mechanisms rather than compulsive behaviors.

Managing Stress: Time management, nutrition, sleep, organization, and exercise are all stress management abilities.

Catharsis (release of excess anxious or tension energy)

Journaling
Letting some sentimental experiencing
Exercise
Channeling extra energy into productive things
Playing/listening to tunes that fit the anxiety

Be patient.

Finally, be sympathetic and tolerant of your loved one’s anxiety and their attempts to handle it. They are not choosing to be anxious, and they are doing their best to cope with it.

The “anxiety alarm” in the head of some people is wired in such a way that it is very easy to trigger. very hard to turn off. Even if they turn it off, it often comes back on louder than before.

A broken “alarm system” is the first stage. Their nervousness is a problem. It’s not working. Then comes the lengthy and tough way of education, learning, and practicing coping skills.

High-end inpatient and residential treatment are extremely beneficial to people suffering from hypochondria or Illness anxiety disorder. The need for therapy has expanded in tandem with the increase in the prevalence of illness anxiety disorder.

Hypochondriac inpatient treatment is when a person is admitted to a rehab facility that specializes in mental health treatment for hypochondria. A premium luxury inpatient rehab center provides upscale hypochondriac cures in addition to high-standard amenities like a 5-star resort with massage, spa treatments, scenic surroundings, private rooms, and alternative therapies like mindfulness, yoga, and acupuncture, meditation, fitness centers, and gourmet chef-prepared meals.

Reach us today for upscale hypochondria treatment!

FAQs

What Are The Types Of Hypochondria Disorders?

A person suffering from illness anxiety disorder usually falls into one of the following categories:
Care-seeking: In a healthcare context, you spend a lot of time. You consult with many doctors and request medical testing.
Care-avoidant: You avoid medical care or doctors because you don’t want to be bothered. You may not trust doctors or believe they aren’t paying attention to your symptoms. More worry and anxiety may result as a result of this.

What’s The Difference Between Somatic Symptom Disorder And Illness Anxiety Disorder?

A person with somatic symptom disorder, like someone with illness anxiety disorder, may worry and obsess about their health. Somatic symptom disorder is characterized by genuine physical symptoms. Medical tests, on the other hand, are unable to identify the source of the physical ailment.

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Anxiety Insights

Panic Attack vs. Anxiety Attack

Panic attacks vs. anxiety attacks are being used interchangeably in the light of certain similar symptoms, risk factors, and causes, including rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and shortness of breath.