That strange pain in your chest feels scary and real.
Your heart starts racing and you can’t shake the feeling that something is seriously wrong.
You notice a mark on your skin that wasn’t there before and your mind immediately goes to the worst possible explanation.
You can’t ignore a headache or brush off symptoms. For you, every physical sensation feels like a warning sign.
You either research symptoms obsessively online or avoid medical information entirely because it’s too overwhelming.
Maybe you’re constantly seeking medical reassurance, or maybe you avoid doctors completely. Either way, the worry never stops.
This isn’t just being cautious about your health. When fear of illness takes over your work, relationships, and joy, that’s health anxiety.
You know logically you’re probably fine, but your brain won’t let you believe it.
Health anxiety (sometimes called illness anxiety or hypochondriasis) is when you’re constantly worried about having or developing a serious illness, even when there’s no medical evidence that anything’s wrong.
Your body becomes the thing you can’t trust, and every sensation feels like a warning sign.
This is your brain’s alarm system going off constantly, convinced that danger is lurking in every ache, pain, or unusual feeling.
Your mind becomes a WebMD search engine that only returns worst-case scenarios.
Health anxiety can start for lots of different reasons
Maybe you or someone close to you had a serious illness, or maybe a doctor missed something important once and now you don’t trust that you’re getting proper care.
If you grew up in a house where every cough was treated like a medical emergency, or where illness was constantly discussed, your brain learned to be hypervigilant about health.
Sometimes health anxiety shows up during stressful periods when you feel like everything is out of control. Worrying about your health becomes a way your brain tries to regain control.
We have access to more medical information than ever before, but most of us aren’t trained to interpret it correctly. Dr. Google is not your friend when you’re already anxious.
Health anxiety often comes along with other mental health challenges. Your brain is already in worry mode, so it picks health as the thing to focus on.
At Get Reconnected Psychotherapy Services, we get it. We know that being told “it’s just anxiety” doesn’t make it feel any less real or scary. We understand that your fear about your health is genuine, even if the medical threat isn’t.
We use a mind-body approach because health anxiety lives in both your thoughts and your physical sensations.
We’ll help you change your relationship with uncertainty and learn to trust your body again.
We’ll help you recognize catastrophic thinking patterns and learn to evaluate health concerns more realistically instead of jumping to worst-case scenarios.
You’ll gradually reduce checking behaviors and reassurance-seeking while learning to tolerate the uncertainty that comes with having a body.
Sometimes health anxiety shows up during stressful periods when you feel like everything is out of control. Worrying about your health becomes a way your brain tries to regain control.
We’ll explore the parts of you that are trying to protect you from illness and help them find healthier ways to keep you safe.
You’ll learn to notice physical sensations and health-related thoughts without immediately reacting with panic or checking behaviors.
We’ll help you process and resolve traumatic memories or experiences that may be fueling your health anxiety, using guided imagery and eye movements to reduce their emotional impact.
We’ll work with your nervous system to help you feel safer in your own body and distinguish between anxiety sensations and actual health concerns.
You’ll learn practical tools for managing health anxiety spikes, including grounding techniques and guidelines for when to seek medical care vs. when to ride out the anxiety.
We’ll start by understanding your specific health worries, when they started, and how they’re affecting your life. No judgment here – just genuine curiosity about your experience.
Together we’ll figure out what you want your relationship with your health and your body to look like. Maybe it’s going a week without Googling symptoms, or maybe it’s being able to exercise without panic.
We use Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you recognize anxious thought patterns, Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) to gradually reduce avoidance behaviors, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you live with uncertainty.
We’ll meet regularly – weekly or bi-weekly – to work through your health anxiety. Consistency helps your brain learn new patterns.
This isn’t just talking – we’ll work together to understand your specific triggers and develop strategies that actually work for your life.
You’ll get real tools to use when health anxiety hits. Things like grounding techniques for when you start spiraling, ways to evaluate whether you actually need medical care, and strategies for handling physical sensations.
We’ll help you develop a health routine that feels caring instead of anxious. This might include mindful movement, stress management, and ways to stay connected to your body without constant monitoring.
We’ll regularly check in on what’s working and what isn’t, adjusting our approach as you get stronger and more confident in managing health anxiety.
You don’t have to live in constant fear of your own body. Health anxiety is treatable, and you can learn to feel safe in your own skin again.
We’ll use what we learn in our first session to make a plan that’s just for you.
For more information about our approaches, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected]
Looking for a therapist that truly gets you? Get in touch with us at Get Reconnected.
We offer free 15-minute video consultations.
BA, MA, Registered Psychotherapist (RP) – Founder of Get Reconnected Psychotherapy Services
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MA, Registered Psychotherapist
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MA, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Currently on Leave
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MA, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
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Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
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MA, Registered Psychotherapist, Qualifying
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