Health anxiety

Many of us feel anxious about our health sometimes. But health anxiety is more than worrying about health occasionally, or when we're unwell. It can be very hard to live with.

We're here to help you understand health anxiety, find ways to cope, and get support.

I was starting to view any aches or pains as an imminent threat to my life.

What is health anxiety?

Health anxiety is when you spend lots of time worrying about your health. And checking or avoiding things related to your health. These worries can last a long time, cause distress and affect your daily life.

Health anxiety is sometimes called illness anxiety disorder, hypochondriasis or somatic symptom disorder. It's your choice which term, if any, you use.

Despite its name, health anxiety isn't categorised as an anxiety disorder. But it does include symptoms of anxiety. Health anxiety is thought to be more linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). 

What are the symptoms of health anxiety?

There are 3 main types of health anxiety symptom:

• Difficult thoughts and feelings about your health
• Checking things related to health
• Avoiding things related to health

We have more information on each of these.

Everyone's experience of health anxiety is different. You may not have all of these symptoms. And you may have some that aren't listed.

Difficult thoughts and feelings about your health

You may:

• Spend lots of time thinking and worrying about your health. You might feel unable to stop this no matter what you do
• Worry that symptoms or changes mean you have a serious illness. And feel very aware of your body
• Always think of worst-case scenarios for your health
• Feel unable to cope with your worries. Even if you know they're unlikely to be true
• Fear doctors have missed something or tests may be wrong
• Experience unwanted, distressing thoughts or images – sometimes called intrusive thoughts
• Constantly worry about a previous illness coming back. Or a health condition getting worse
• Worry about things you did in the past harming your health
• Worry about being unwell in public, at important events, or while travelling
• Worry you have illnesses you hear about or see on TV 
• Struggle to make decisions about medication due to worries about side effects
• Feel unable to cope with uncertainty around your health. For example, waiting for test results
• Worry about talking about an illness because you think it may be more likely to happen
• Have difficult feelings about seeking medical support, like feeling scared, guilty or embarrassed
• Fear that if you stop worrying, you'll miss things and get a serious illness
• Notice things you believe might be signs something bad will happen, like particular numbers, images or words

You may also experience symptoms of anxiety or panic attacks, which can make your worries worse.

Checking things related to health

You may do, say or think things to try and get rid of your worries. Or to try to reassure yourself or feel in control. These are sometimes called compulsions. For example, you might:

• Check your body repeatedly for signs of illness. Like looking for lumps, pain or numbness
• Test your health frequently. For example, testing your memory for signs of dementia
• Ask doctors to double-check things you're worried about
• Seek reassurance about your health repeatedly from friends, family or medical professionals
• Spend lots of time researching your health online. For instance, looking at health information, medical studies, forums or social media. Or asking AI chatbots health-related questions
• Make plans for what you would do if you had a serious illness
• Go over your worries again and again in your mind. This is sometimes called rumination

Avoiding things related to health

You may not do certain things because of your health worries. For example, you may:

• Avoid medical appointments or check-ups because you're scared they’ll find something serious. Or put off making them
• Not look at any health information or anything that reminds you of health. Like TV shows or books with health storylines
• Refuse to talk about your health
• Avoid certain activities you worry could risk making your health worse. For example, physical activities or travel
• Try to not think about the future 

The health anxiety cycle

The things you do to check your health or avoid your worries may feel helpful or comforting at first. But this relief often doesn't last long.

Once your worries come back, you may repeat your checking or avoiding behaviours. Over time, you can feel you have to check or avoid things to cope with your health worries.

This can build into a cycle of thoughts and behaviours that can make your worries worse. This diagram shows the cycle.

How is sometimes worrying about health different to health anxiety?

It's understandable to worry about your health at times. Especially when you're unwell. Or waiting for test results or treatment. Or if you're at a higher risk for an illness. This doesn't mean you have health anxiety. But it could be health anxiety if:

• You've been feeling this way for a long time (several months or more)
• Your worries or checking take up lots of time
• Your worries are making you very distressed
• You're struggling to carry on with your daily life
• Your worries are affecting your relationships
• You feel unable to control what you do. For example, you can't stop researching health, even if you want to
• You feel stuck in a cycle of worries about your health
• Your level of worry is not in proportion to your current health situation

Health anxiety is an internal bully and one that can take over a person’s life.

What can cause health anxiety?

More research is needed about the causes of health anxiety. But some research suggests that you may be more likely to experience health anxiety if you:

• Have chronic or ongoing health conditions
• Had serious health problems or health scares in the past
• Find it hard to trust health services. Or you've had bad experiences with them before
• Have another mental health problem, such as OCD or anxiety
• Have experienced a very stressful event or trauma
• Experienced difficult or traumatic experiences as a child. For example, abuse, bereavement, serious illness or injury

Health anxiety may have some similar causes to OCD or anxiety. Our pages on the causes of OCD and the causes of anxiety have more information. 

I saw so many friends and family get ill that it gave me a horrible fear which tied into OCD and general anxiety disorder.

How can I manage health anxiety?

Health anxiety can be very difficult to cope with. But there are things you can do to try to manage it.

Different things work for different people. And some of our suggestions may not feel possible for you at the moment. Try a few things and see what works for you.

Prepare for medical appointments

Attending medical appointments can be very difficult if you have health anxiety. And it can be a challenge to balance looking after your health with managing health anxiety. Here are some suggestions that may help:

• Ask someone you trust to come to appointments with you.
• If you avoid or put off appointments, try to take the first step. For example, finding your GP's website or phone number.
• Make a list of questions before your appointment. Note them on paper or your phone. If it feels helpful, you can show them to your doctor.
• Practise what you want to say before your appointment.
• Plan something fun or relaxing for after your appointment.
• You could tell your doctor you have health anxiety. If they understand your worries, this may help them to support you. 

Our page on how to get help from your GP for mental health has advice about talking to your GP. And what to do if they don't listen to you.

Be careful online

The internet can be a useful source of information. But often what we see online can make our worries worse. These tips may help:

• Use trusted health information sources. For example, the NHS website or trusted charities.
• Remember that online or news health stories may not reflect common experiences. People may be more likely to share bad experiences.
• Try to talk to your GP about concerns instead of researching them yourself.
• Avoid using AI chatbots for medical advice or diagnosis suggestions. They'll often agree with you, which may make your worries worse. Or you may find yourself constantly seeking reassurance from them.

Our page on looking after your mental health online has more information about staying safe online and finding reliable information. 

Try to manage your worries

Health anxiety can make your worries feel difficult or impossible to manage. Or you may feel that you need them to stay in control.

It can help to try different ways to cope with your worries. This can be very difficult, especially at first. It often takes a lot of practice. But you could try to:

• Take things step-by-step. For example, if you're waiting for test results, try to resist planning too far ahead.
• Avoid all or nothing thinking. Remember many things can be true at once. Health anxiety can make us feel the only options are totally healthy or seriously ill. Try to think, 'health is a spectrum and I'll never be 100% healthy'. Or, 'I can't fully control whether I get ill'.
• Think of alternative explanations. For example, if you're worried a symptom could be a serious illness, try to think of other, less worrying causes. You don't need to feel certain it's not serious illness. But thinking about other possibilities may help.
• Share the responsibility. Health anxiety can make you feel like all the responsibility and blame for any health problems is on you. For example, you may feel if you don't spot a symptom, it will be all your fault if you become unwell. This can add to feelings of pressure and stress. Try to remember other factors that impact your health. Like your genetics and the healthcare you get.
• Delay your worries. You could set an alarm to come back to a concern later. This can help you practise not reacting to worries straight away.
• Distract yourself. It may help to make a list of things you find  helpful. Include things you enjoy and find easy to do.

Our information on how to manage anxiety and worry has more tips.

What works for me is deep diaphragmatic breathing. It sounds basic but it really does work if you practise it consistently.

Try to accept difficult thoughts and uncertainty 

Upsetting thoughts and uncertainty about health can be very difficult to cope with. It's understandable to want to get rid of them. But this can make them worse. These tips may help:

• Allow uncertainty about your health. Wanting certainty often means you question everything and feel even more doubt. Trying to accept you'll never be completely sure your worries aren't true can feel frightening. But it can get easier with practice.
• Try to resist constantly checking physical sensations. Sometimes focusing on things like breathing or swallowing can make them start to feel strange or difficult.
• You don't need to listen to every thought. Having a thought doesn't mean it's true. Try to sit with the thoughts that come into your head, rather than trying to get rid of them. They may start to go away on their own.
• Name your thoughts. If you get a worrying thought, tell yourself something like: 'Here’s my health anxiety telling me I'm ill again'. This may feel strange at first, but it can help you practise separating thoughts from facts.

Our information on self-care for OCD has more tips on coping with intrusive thoughts and uncertainty. 

Try to resist checking or avoiding

It can be very difficult to stop checking or avoiding things related to your health. Especially if this is how you've coped with difficult feelings for a long time. But the cycle of worrying and checking can make your anxiety worse.

It can help to challenge your fears. This isn't easy and can take a lot of practice. If possible, it's usually safer and best to do this with the support of a trained professional. Especially at first. Here are some things that may help:

• List the things you do to check or reassure yourself about your health. Or to avoid thinking about it. And how much time you spend doing this.
• Try to sit with distressing thoughts without doing things to make them go away. It'll probably feel very unpleasant at first. This may last a while. But it won't be forever.
• Remember that checking or avoiding can make you feel worse over time, even if it feels comforting at first.
• If it's too difficult to stop checking, try to reduce or delay it. You could limit the time you spend researching health each day. Or set a timer to wait before checking something. This can help you practise sitting with the difficult feeling without checking.
• Try to gradually expose yourself to health-related things you avoid. For example, you could watch 30 seconds of a TV show about health. Try a bit longer each time.
• Try visualisation. It doesn't work for everyone, but it may be helpful to imagine health anxiety as something separate to you. For example, a bully, a monster or an unhelpful friend.
• Try to take your fears a little less seriously. Sometimes, gently poking fun at your thoughts can make them feel less overwhelming. For example. giving your worry a silly name or voice. This isn't helpful for everyone, but you may find this gives your thoughts less power.

Our information on self-care for OCD has more information on resisting compulsive behaviour.

Be kind to yourself

Health anxiety can impact your self-esteem. You may feel guilty or confused about how you feel or act. And you may have experienced misunderstanding or judgement from others.

It's important to be kind to yourself. Here are some things to consider:

• Don't blame yourself. Having health anxiety isn't your fault. And you deserve support and understanding.
• Celebrate small wins. These could be things you're grateful for or proud of. Or each step of progress in managing health anxiety.
• Try not to compare yourself to others who don't have health anxiety. We all struggle with different things.
• Accept that setbacks happen. There may be times when you can manage your worries better or worse. Difficult times don't mean you've failed or gone backwards.
• Remember you deserve to be listened to and taken seriously by medical professionals. Having health anxiety doesn't change the fact that you deserve to be treated with respect.
• Think about what matters most to you. Health anxiety can take up lots of time and energy. So we have less time for things or people we care about. Try writing these down. And what you could do if you spent less time on health anxiety. Keep this somewhere you can easily see.
• Practise self-care. Things like connecting with others, spending time in nature, or trying a creative activity can help improve our wellbeing. Different things work for different people.

Our wellbeing page has more self-care tips. And our tips to improve your self-esteem have information about being kind to yourself. 

Nature walks are something I rely on. Just getting outside and moving, without any agenda, helps me reset.

What are the treatments for health anxiety?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) hasn't developed specific recommendations for complex health anxiety yet. NICE is the organisation that produces guidelines on best practice in healthcare. 

Anxiety treatments

If you have health anxiety, you're likely to be offered similar treatments to those for anxiety. These may include:

• Self-help courses, such as workbooks, online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or group courses
• Talking therapies, such as CBT or applied relaxation therapy
• Medication

The first step to getting treatment is usually to talk to your GP.  There's more information on our page on getting help from your GP for mental health.

In England, you can also self-refer to your local NHS talking therapies service.

Our treatment for anxiety page has more information on treatments and how to access them.

Our page on how to get help in a mental health crisis has information on what to do if you need help now.

CBT with exposure and response therapy (ERP)

Some people find CBT with ERP helpful for health anxiety. ERP is designed to treat OCD. It encourages you to confront and accept difficult thoughts. And to resist the urge to carry out compulsions. Our page on treatment for OCD has more information.

CBT with ERP is currently offered on the NHS for treating OCD. You may be able to ask your GP or local talking therapies service about this if you feel it may help. 

Getting a formal diagnosis was both a relief and a strange thing to sit with. I'd spent years not having the right words for what I was experiencing, and suddenly I did.