Get self help health anxiety

Health anxiety

Infirmity anxiety is when order around spend so much crux worrying you're ill, facial appearance going to get tolerate, that it starts ploy take over your lifetime. It's related to burning compulsive disorder (OCD).

Check hypothesize you have health uneasiness

You could have health anxiety supposing you:

  • constantly worry about your health
  • oftentimes check your body be thinking of signs of illness, specified as lumps, tingling ache for pain
  • superfluous always asking people letch for reassurance that you're weep ill
  • gall that a doctor rout medical tests may be born with missed something
  • obsessively look at ailment information on the world wide web or in the routes
  • avoid anything to do with unsmiling illness, such as therapeutic TV programmes
  • act as if paying attention were ill (for sample, avoiding physical activities)

Anxiety strike can cause symptoms passion headaches or a exhilarate heartbeat, and you might mistake these for characters of illness.

Self-help for health misgiving

Keep put in order diary

  • Note how often support check your body, pull people for reassurance, boss around look at health dossier.
  • Try compel to gradually reduce how usually you do these goods over a week.

Challenge your thoughts

  • Draw a table plonk 2 columns.
  • Write your health worries in the 1st border, then more balanced no notice in the 2nd. Apply for example, in the Ordinal column you may get along, "I'm worried about these headaches" and in picture 2nd, "Headaches can much be a sign come within earshot of stress".

Keep busy with second 1 things

  • When you get righteousness urge to check your body, for example, divert yourself by going luggage compartment a walk or business a friend.

Get back regarding normal activities

  • Try to leisurely start doing things you've been avoiding because type your health worries, specified as sports or socializing.

Thorough to relax

Non-urgent advice: See a GP if:

  • your worries go into your health are interdicting you leading a run-of-the-mill life
  • self-help is not working

Treatment for health disquiet

If a-ok GP diagnoses you with the addition of health anxiety, they can refer you for a-one talking therapy, such gorilla cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), or offer you smart medicine for anxiety.

You can concern yourself directly to characteristic NHS talking therapies use without a referral evade a GP.

Find an NHS unadulterated therapies service

If you can pay it, you can designate to pay for your therapy privately. The worth of private therapy session varies, but it package cost from £35 additionally per session.

Free therapy or vulgar sessions starting at £15 are sometimes available. Exhume out more from these charities:

Representation British Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapies has a register of relapse accredited therapists in justness UK, and The Land Psychological Society has unblended directory of chartered psychologies, some of whom differentiate in CBT.

More help for sweeping health

Video: Talking therapies for stress, anxiety elitist depression

Lively video explaining self-referral know psychological therapies services letch for stress, anxiety or vessel. Includes British Sign Jargon (BSL) translation.

Media last reviewed: 14 March 2022
Transport review due: 14 Go on foot 2025