Health and illness worries are a very common problem we encounter in our clinic. These types of worries can cause a lot of distress and impact on one’s life. Health and illness anxiety is a very treatable condition, with the right support.
Some people are more prone to health and illness anxiety, than others. This is often due to factors such as:
- Experience with childhood illnesses
- Parental illness fears
- Family members with chronic or life-threatening illnesses
- Death experiences in childhood
- Adverse life events
- Temperament
- Working in a health environment with exposure to illness
Intense illness worries sometimes result from interpretations of bodily symptoms as signs of a serious disease. These interpretations cause fear and worry, and bodily checking and reassurance seeking are ways people often try to cope health and illness worry. Unfortunately, while body checking and reassurance seeking can provide temporary relief, it is often followed by resurgence of anxiety, and more focus on the concerns and more checking and reassurance seeking. It can be quite a vicious cycle!
Some examples of checking and reassurance seeking include:
Examples include:
- Taking your pulse regularly
- Daily breast self-examinations
- Checking moles frequently
- Weighing yourself to see if your weight has decreased
- Palpating your abdomen to loo for lumps
- Seeking reassurance from friends, family and doctors
- Dr Google (usually not a good idea!)
To enquire about an appointment at Moving Forward Clinical Psychologists, please complete our Online Contact Form https://movingforward.net.au/contact/, and a member of our team will be in touch shortly. Alternatively, please call us on 1300 133 013.
Our experienced Clinical Psychologists are located in Terrigal (10 minutes from Erina) on the beautiful NSW Central Coast. We are also available Australia wide, via Telehealth.
This is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. Please seek guidance from a qualified and AHPRA registered mental health professional regarding your mental health.