5 Ways to Stop the Health Anxiety Cycle

Everyone worries about their health sometimes. However, health anxiety can be a quite serious problem when it gets more entrenched. Health anxiety is an obsessive and irrational worry about having a serious medical condition. It’s also called illness anxiety, and it used to be called hypochondria.

With health anxiety, you believe you have an illness that you don’t actually have. Another form of health anxiety is somatization disorder, where you interpret small bodily sensations as being a symptom of something serious.

But health anxiety is a real paradox. There are some things a lot of people try to soothe their anxiety that actually feeds it. This is called the health anxiety cycle. But there is an escape - it’s just different from what you might think.

In this video you’ll learn five things you might do that make health anxiety worse (and what to do instead).
The health anxiety cycle usually starts with something like a sensation in your body or even just hearing about someone else’s illness.

Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC
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[tayloralesia]

I feel so safe and heard in this comment section. Makes me feel less crazy. We aren’t alone.

[lakeishabostick]

I constantly worry. I’ve been to the doctor back to back. I constantly expect hearing the worst. Please you guys. Don’t torture yourself with this. Your okay. Please calm your soul. Rest your thoughts. Trust God. We expect the worst but most times what we are worrying about don’t even be the case. Anxiety is like walking around with a umbrella everyday expecting it to rain. You’ll be okay keep your head up. Coming from a person who suffers from this terribly . I get it .

[lewis]

It’s so hard to ignore it because it feels like this time it’s a real threat. “What if I ignore it and it’s real this time?”

[traciprovins]

This comment section makes me feel so validated. I wish I knew you guys in person. Nobody in my real life understands

[ygr]

I have been diagnosed with blood cancer, skin cancer, enlarged prostate, erectile dysfunction, parkinson, testicular cancer, falling teeth, blindness, arthrithis.. and several other severe illnesses, all in my imagination.
God be with me, i'm so tired of being scared 24/7.

[randehmarshgames]

I worry about constantly being sick, thinking every minor ache and pain is cancer or something life threatening.
Anxiety is genuinely the worst sickness I have had up until this point because it just doesnt feel like its going to go away.
Even when I feel like it gets better, I have another setback

[Philosophat]

I served 21 years as a military combat medic. I’ve taken care of thousands of patients and the whole time I was and still am afraid of going to the doctor for fear of being told the worst. I absolutely avoid going to the doctor at all cost. I’m closing in on 50 years old and know I must soon face my fears and go get a checkup and physical. Keep me in prayer as I pray for all of you so we can live our best happy, and healthy lives.

[Cilo]

The Googling part is what destroyed me

[jenniferwatson]

I literally cried through the last half of this. I’m ready to take control. I can’t live like this anymore. Thank you so much for the information. It’s exactly what I needed to get started in the right direction. Health anxiety is killing me more than anything I could actually be diagnosed with.

[maracuj]

Literally crying for the 6th time today and this makes me feel better. It's torture. It's incredibly frustrating and it makes me feel crazy. I'm only 17 and health anxiety has been making me miss out on things I could be enjoying. It's worrying that I might die at any moment everyday all the time. Done an EKG and a blood test recently, nothing wrong with them. Saw two doctors (primary care and psychiatrist), primary care doctor examined me and checked my blood test, pressure, oxygenation, bpm, and told me I should see a therapist because I have severe anxiety, and she even told me my chances of dying from a heart attack or having cancer are almost impossible because of my age and lifestyle (I exercise constantly, my family doesn't have a history of those and we actually have a genetic construction that makes our immunity very high, and eat a very healthy diet; I don't drink soda for example). Psychiatrist and psychologist diagnosed me with severe anxiety, illness anxiety and OCD. Just typing this comment and seeing the hundreds of people who feel the exact same things as me is so comforting, so thanks everybody who left a comment, and thanks for the video.

[jpegsoup]

This comment section makes me feel not alone. Health anxiety comes and goes in my life but it can be so debilitating. Especially when I don’t tell anyone because I’m basically suffering in silence. I feel as those being labeled a hypochondriac is such a negative thing and that’s why I tend to reframe from it. Thank you for your videos.

[Pato-othf]

5 things you might do in the health anxiety circle:
1. Meaning making: When having feelings, symptoms do not ask yourself: Why am I feeling this? What does that mean?
- Instead say: It is just a sensation / this is anxiety speaking / just because I think stuff does not mean it's real
2. Catastrophizing: if something is uncomfortable or worrisome you take it to the extreme.
- What to do instead: Label it as catastrophizing.
3. Googling - Googling can worsen your anxiety. Set a limit on reassurance seeking / consult a doctor once
4. Getting unnecessary tests
5. Seeking certainty - Accept that uncertainty is part of life

Thank you Emma for these great videos

[kieraalice]

The comments really do not lie. I have always been anxious since I was a child. My friends and family would call me 'dramatic' followed by an eye roll. You could pin it down on being exposed to death and stressful situations whilst being really young, but since covid I haven't been the same. Covid rlly pushed me back from years of progress. Being isolated from my social life and the outside world led me into being chronically online on TikTok. The algorithm showed me people who had been diagnosed with my worst fears, telling you to 'listen to your gut'. I can't even leave the house on my own anymore. I just want to feel present and safe within my body. This video and the comments feel like a big warm hug rn.

[carolineagustian]

This is so me.. After 1 symptom there's always another one, and everytime there's a new one I always think "what if this one is real??' Anybody feels the same? The anxiety and worries are controlling my life! All the tips in this video help a lot, by the way, thanks.. I think i need to watch this regularly..

[Katemorgan]

I just went to the doctor for severe palpitations and heart racing (for hours at a time). He gave me an ekg and said i have severe anxiety 😥 (ekg was normal). I spent hours researching thinking it was Atrial Fibrillation or Heart inflammation or blah blah.... health anxiety is horrible. Thank you for this video. It's helpful 💙💙

[Handledeeznuts]

I’ve been dealing with this on a pretty severe level for about a full year. I am so thankful for you and your channel. I know this is gonna sound cheesy, but this is literally life changing for me. God bless you and thank you from the bottom of my heart!

[React-ul]

Yes! I had an episode yesterday, I felt a sharp pain on my left side after working out, had a huge panic attack, kept checking my oxymeter to see if i was having an arrhythmia or heart attack, was a nightmare, couldn’t breathe and thought I was going to die, lasted almost an hour, the next day when my rational thinking returned I knew it was just muscle pain. This year alone I’ve convinced myself I’ve had skin cancer, eye cancer, heart problems, appendicitis etc… nightmare

[Tatacchan]

*And there are some of us who actually DO have an illness to DEAL WITH!* But when you're on this side of the spectrum you learn one thing - YOUR MIND MAKES IT WORSE THAN IT ACTUALLY IS. People have thrived DESPITE OF THEIR ILLNESS. An illness can be the biggest eye opener to the beauty of the world! So take it from someone who is actually going through just imagining see that your worries can be used to completely transform your life and become a braver and wiser version of you! It's never the worst thing that's ever happening to you if you decide that it's not.

[simplytierresistable]

I'm so glad you talked about that feeling of doom. I used to get these panic attacks in the middle of the night. I was convinced I was being warned I was going to die. I would literally sob. It went on for a while until I told my husband who was like, "You need to see a therapist." It did not even occur to me that it was a panic attack. I wish this was talked about more openly... especially in religious communities, where those types of feelings can be blurred with what you believe are warnings or promptings or whatever you want to call them.

[sarahitangelita]

I have diagnosed myself with many different types of cancer over the years. I have spent countless nights crying believing I’m dying. I have thought I have tumors, and poke myself around trying to see if I feel the tumors… I have thought I rather just die now instead of living like this. I cannot be there for my children the way I should from the depression and worry I’m dying. So they’d be better off without me. Not that I have thought about ending my life but I have thought I wish I didn’t wake up daily. Just forever sleep. I think loneliness has gotten the worse out of me. If I don’t worry about me I worry about my children thinking they’re the ones who for sure have a terminal illness. Living like this is worse than actually dying.