Hypochondriac Disease: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

What Is a Hypochondriac?

Hypochondriacs interpret minor symptoms as signs of life-threatening illnesses. Some believe that they are at higher risk for developing a severe disease.

Hypochondria can be expensive. Numerous doctor visits and extensive examinations can add up. When doctors don’t find anything, it can add to the anxiety, fueling more tests and examinations. 

People with hypochondria truly believe they are sick or at risk of getting sick. They’re not lying or trying to deceive anyone. 

They also truly want to be cured. Many of them have a fear of not being taken seriously. This can be exacerbated by doctors telling them that nothing is wrong. Something is wrong; it’s just a mental illness and not a physical illness.

There are two types of hypochondria:

• Care-seeking: Actively pursues treatment, often seeing multiple specialists and spending a lot of time and money on healthcare. 
• Care-avoidant: Untrusting of doctors and the healthcare system. This can make the anxiety worse because you feel like no one is around to help you. 

True hypochondria is rare. Only around .1% of people have it in the US, although this number might be higher, as some studies have shown an increase in hypochondria since the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite this, it’s not uncommon for people and doctors to misdiagnose real health concerns as hypochondria. Remember, when the pain is real, you’re not a hypochondriac. 

What Makes a Person a Hypochondriac?

Symptoms of hypochondria include:

• Persistent fear of having a serious illness, even when medical exams are normal.  
• Taking normal bodily sensations like a headache, muscle twitch, or stomach discomfort as signs of severe disease.  
• Obsessively checking your body for unusual moles, inflamed lymph nodes, irregular pulse, or other symptoms. 
• Seeking different medical opinions and seeing many different specialists, no matter the price tag. 
• Difficulty believing reassurance; worry returns quickly after a normal exam or negative test.  
• Avoiding medical appointments due to fear of hearing bad news; some people alternate between seeking reassurance and avoiding appointments.  
• Excessive online researching (“cyberchondria”) about symptoms and diseases.  
• Thinking about illness much of the day, which often interferes with work, school, or relationships.  
• Catastrophic thinking, assuming the “worst case scenario” from minor symptoms.  
• Feeling hyper-aware of bodily sensations, noticing every small change.  

In order for a diagnosis to be given, hypochondria symptoms must impact your daily routine, such as avoiding certain activities, foods, or environments due to fear of health consequences.  

What is not hypochondria?

We’ve all scrolled through WebMD when we’ve had that lingering cold that doesn’t go away. Reading symptoms online and jumping to severe conclusions is a symptom of hypochondria, but it alone does not make you a hypochondriac.

You do not have hypochondria if you:

• Reason easily with the anxiety.
• Feel better and no longer have anxiety after receiving treatment.
• Know you’re not actually sick and are seeking treatment or lying about your health for financial benefits or to receive special care/attention. (This is a symptom of a different mental health disorder, Munchausen Syndrome.)

Remember, it’s normal to be afraid of life-threatening illnesses. What’s not normal is for that fear to take over your life, finances, relationships, and future. 

Hypochondriac Treatment

Hypochondria is very treatable. The two primary methods are medication and therapy. 

• Medication: Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications are effective at reducing the intensity of hypochondriac symptoms. SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed. Medication can be especially helpful for those who experience acute anxiety symptoms, like panic attacks, and for those who find their hypochondriac symptoms make it difficult to engage in daily life, like holding down a job or keeping a relationship. 
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is the gold standard treatment for hypochondria. It helps people rewire cognitive distortions, which are negative thought patterns that fuel anxiety disorders such as hypochondria. For example, the thought “I have a headache. It must be a sign of a brain tumor,” is a catastrophic cognitive distortion. CBT helps you identify these thoughts and put a stop to them. 
• Mindfulness and relaxation coping skills: The final prong of hypochondria treatment is coping mechanisms. These are easy, applicable skills you can employ in your day-to-day life to help manage daily symptoms. We’ll look at some examples below.

Hypochondria can be extremely disruptive, but it is treatable. Ask your healthcare provider to refer you to a therapist or a psychiatrist to talk about the likelihood of having hypochondria. 

How to Stop Being a Hypochondriac

Coping skills are a good way to deal with the intense symptoms of hypochondria while you’re getting treatment. Treatment for hypochondria isn’t an instant fix, so knowing these skills can make life easier for you as you recover. 

• Name the worry: Label the thought as what it is (“This is my health anxiety talking”). By doing so, you don’t give it room to spiral out of control. 
• Learn about your disorder: This can be especially helpful if you suffer from “cyberchondria” and spend a lot of time researching potential disorders you might have. Instead of going down a rabbit hole of disorders you probably don’t have, learn about the one you do have. Understand the symptoms and how you can fight them, so that when you’re having an anxiety flare-up, you can name it for what it is. 
• Limit symptom checking: Exposure and Prevention Response Therapy (ERP) is used to treat OCD. Hypochondria shares many symptoms of OCD and may be related. One strategy of ERP is to gradually reduce the amount of time you’re spending on compulsions. In this case, the compulsion would be symptom checking. For example, set the rule that you can only check for symptoms for 10 minutes in the morning. Set a timer and ask someone to help hold you accountable. 
• Grounding techniques: Use deep breathing (like box breathing), the 5-4-3-2-1 sensory exercise, or mindful pauses to calm the body. Progressive Muscle Relaxation is another good option. 
• Reduce online searching: Create a rule like “No Googling symptoms,” which often increases anxiety. You can replace googling symptoms with a different behavior, like writing the symptoms down or engaging in a different hobby. 
• Focus on present evidence: Remind yourself of facts, like recent reassurance from a doctor or lack of worsening symptoms. 
• Engage in healthy distractions: Activities like walking, talking with a friend, or hobbies can break the worry loop. These healthy distractions are also important parts of overall healthy wellbeing. Taking care of your body can help lessen the severity of health anxiety symptoms. 
• Practice self-compassion: Acknowledge that fear is uncomfortable but not dangerous. Try not to blame yourself for your situation. Hypochondria is as real a mental health disorder as depression or PTSD. You are not at fault, and you deserve the chance to feel better.

Take the first step to recovery from hypochondria. Reach out to a therapist today. 

Lifebulb accepts most major insurance plans and has open availability this week. Call our team or search for a therapist near you with our therapist directory. 

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