Health Anxiety: When Worry About Your Body Takes Over
Constantly checking symptoms, fearing the worst, unable to be reassured. Health anxiety is treatable.
What Is Health Anxiety?
Health anxiety (formerly called hypochondria) is an excessive preoccupation with having or developing a serious illness.
It's not 'making it up' — the anxiety and physical sensations are very real. Your brain is misinterpreting normal body signals as dangerous.
Health anxiety affects up to 12% of people and is one of the most common reasons people visit their GP repeatedly.
Does This Sound Like You?
You Google symptoms and always assume the worst-case scenario.
A headache becomes a brain tumour. A mole becomes cancer. A fast heartbeat becomes a heart attack.
Doctor reassurance helps briefly, then the worry returns — sometimes within hours.
You check your body constantly: feeling for lumps, taking your pulse, examining your skin.
You avoid health-related news, programmes, or conversations because they trigger panic.
If this resonates, you're not alone — and this pattern can be broken.
Why It Happens
Anxiety sensitises your nervous system, making you hyper-aware of normal body sensations.
Past health scares (yours or a loved one's) can create lasting vigilance.
The internet provides infinite reassurance AND infinite fuel for worry — a toxic combination.
Checking and reassurance-seeking provide temporary relief but strengthen the anxiety long-term.
Health anxiety is maintained by a cycle: notice sensation → catastrophise → check/Google → brief relief → more vigilance → notice more sensations.
Try This Now
Delay the Google: When you notice a symptom, set a 24-hour rule before searching. Most worries dissolve on their own.
Sensation surfing: Notice the body sensation without labelling it as dangerous. Say: 'My body is doing something. I'm going to observe it without judging it.' Watch it change and pass.
Redirect attention: When you catch yourself body-scanning, deliberately shift your focus to something external — describe 5 things you can see in detail.
When to Seek Professional Help
If health anxiety is consuming significant time each day.
If you're visiting the GP repeatedly for reassurance.
If you're avoiding activities, places, or information because of health fears.
CBT is highly effective for health anxiety — it breaks the check-worry cycle.
Your GP can also rule out genuine health concerns so you can focus on treating the anxiety.