🔍 What Does Health Anxiety Look Like in Real Life?

Let’s look at a few real-world examples of how it shows up:

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👤 Ravi, 34, IT Professional

He checks his blood pressure 6–8 times a day. Bought his own machine. Keeps comparing readings. If it goes slightly up, he panics, googles symptoms, and books another cardiology consult.

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👩‍⚕️ Neha, 27, Nursing Student

She convinced herself she had multiple sclerosis because of leg tingling. She’s visited 4 neurologists, got an MRI, and still wakes up every night to “check if she can walk.”

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👨‍🦱 Siddharth, 40, Gym Enthusiast

He avoids running or lifting weights because of a one-time skipped heartbeat during exercise. He’s had 3 stress tests, all normal, but still avoids exertion and wears a smartwatch all day.

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🧠 SYMPTOMS of Health Anxiety

• Constant worry that you have or will develop a serious illness

• Frequent body-checking (pulse, BP, breathing, lumps, etc.)

• Googling symptoms repeatedly (cyberchondria)

• Not trusting medical reports or doctors

• Seeking reassurance again and again

• Avoiding news, hospitals, or illness-related conversations

• Thinking normal body sensations are dangerous (e.g., gas = heart attack)

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🌍 EPIDEMIOLOGY – Who Gets It?

• Around 5-10% of primary care patients have health anxiety symptoms

• More common in women, especially aged 20–45

• Often seen in people with:

  • A past medical scare

  • A sick parent

  • A background of anxiety or trauma

• Increased during COVID pandemic due to health-related fear exposure

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🔬 ETIOLOGY – What Causes Health Anxiety?

• Overactive fear circuits in the brain

• Childhood experiences of sickness (self or family)

• Personality traits: perfectionism, control-seeking, high sensitivity

• Past trauma, panic attacks, or major life stress

• Repeated exposure to Google, reels, health YouTube videos

Your brain learns to scan the body for signs of danger constantly. Even gas or a skipped heartbeat gets interpreted as a heart attack.

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📚 HISTORY – A Modern Name for an Old Fear

Historically, this was called “hypochondriasis.” The word comes from Greek — “hypo” (under) and “chondros” (cartilage near the ribs). Ancient physicians thought it came from issues near the stomach/liver.

Now, it’s better understood as Illness Anxiety Disorder in DSM-5.

We no longer treat it as “attention-seeking.” We now know it’s a serious cognitive distortion with emotional roots.

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⚙️ PATHOGENESIS – What’s Going on in the Brain?

• Amygdala (fear center) becomes overactive

• Brain misinterprets normal signals as threats

• The Prefrontal Cortex (logic center) struggles to override fear

• The fight-flight system (HPA axis) stays ON for long

• Cortisol (stress hormone) builds up – leading to sleep issues, fatigue, muscle tension

✅ Precaution 1: Stop Googling Your Symptoms

🔍 Example:

Ravi had occasional chest pain. He Googled it. Within 5 minutes, he was convinced it was a heart attack. This led to panic, insomnia, and a costly ER visit.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• You’ll create a feedback loop of fear, where every search confirms your worst fear.
• You may begin to mistrust doctors and rely on online strangers.
• You become addicted to symptom-checking, worsening anxiety.

💡 Do This Instead:

• Choose one reliable health site (like Mayo Clinic)
• Set a “Google-free” rule for health-related searches
• Journal the urge, but delay the search for 24 hours

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✅ Precaution 2: Fix One Trusted Doctor – Avoid Multiple Consults

🔍 Example:

Anita visited 6 doctors for headaches in 2 months. All said it was stress, but she didn’t believe them. She booked an MRI and CT scan on her own.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• You end up wasting time, money, and emotional energy.
• Your trust in the medical system declines.
• You risk developing medical mistrust and diagnostic obsession.

💡 Do This Instead:

• Choose one family doctor or psychiatrist
• Follow up regularly instead of starting from zero each time
• Share your mental health concerns openly with the doctor, not just physical ones

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✅ Precaution 3: Use a “Health Worry Journal”

🔍 Example:

Siddharth started noting every worry in a notebook — time, symptom, and how intense it felt. The next day, many of them didn’t feel serious anymore.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• Thoughts feel urgent and convincing, even when they are false
• You’ll act on every fear, instead of observing and evaluating it
• You may never see that most symptoms fade on their own

💡 Do This Instead:

• Log the symptom and intensity (0–10)
• Review the list after 24 hours — check what faded
• Track your daily reassurance-seeking behavior too

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✅ Precaution 4: Don’t Repeatedly Check Your Body

🔍 Example:

Karan checked his pulse every hour. He even bought a smartwatch. Any fluctuation made him panic, even when he felt fine.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• You teach your brain that something is always wrong
• You become hyperaware of normal sensations
• You might miss out on life, constantly focused on your body

💡 Do This Instead:

• Delay body-checking urges — set a rule (e.g., check BP max 1x/day)
• Replace the urge with a deep breathing session or a grounding technique
• Ask: “Has checking ever really helped me feel safe long-term?”

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✅ Precaution 5: Avoid Medical Content on Social Media

🔍 Example:

Meena watched a video on YouTube about a rare cancer. She had the same symptom — bloating. It triggered days of anxiety and multiple tests.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• You’ll absorb other people’s illnesses into your own body narrative
• You become vulnerable to triggering stories and over-identification
• Social media becomes your anxiety amplifier

💡 Do This Instead:

• Unfollow health-related pages if they trigger you
• Limit screen time and install social media timers
• Follow calming, positive mental health content instead

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✅ Precaution 6: Practice Daily Mindfulness or Breathing

🔍 Example:

Ali spent 10 minutes every morning focusing on his breath. Over weeks, his anxiety reduced, even when symptoms popped up.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• Your nervous system stays on high alert
• You’ll get triggered easily by minor sensations
• You won’t learn how to “slow down” fear when it shows up

💡 Do This Instead:

• Try box breathing (Inhale 4s – Hold 4s – Exhale 4s – Hold 4s)
• Use guided apps like Insight Timer or Headspace
• Start with just 5 minutes a day – small steps matter

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✅ Precaution 7: Go to Therapy (CBT is Gold Standard)

🔍 Example:

Shruti was scared of brain tumors due to frequent headaches. In CBT, she worked on thought-challenging, behavioral experiments, and exposure to discomfort. She now manages 95% of her anxiety.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• Your fears may deepen into obsession
• You stay stuck in the test–relief–panic cycle
• Anxiety may spill into other areas like relationships, career, and sleep

💡 Do This Instead:

• Attend weekly CBT sessions with a qualified therapist
• Learn to tolerate uncertainty rather than eliminate it
• Build long-term resilience, not short-term reassurance

Absolutely — let’s include that important point about patients with health anxiety who search for medicine content online and self-medicate, which is a very common and dangerous behavior.

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✅ Precaution 8: Stop Searching About Medicines & Don’t Self-Medicate

🔍 Example:

Zoya had health anxiety about stomach issues. She kept watching YouTube videos about “gut healing supplements,” started taking 4–5 Ayurvedic and over-the-counter pills daily — all without medical supervision. She ended up with more acidity and panic when one medicine caused side effects.

Another patient of mine ordered antidepressants online after reading Reddit posts about anxiety, without consulting a psychiatrist. It led to dizziness, palpitations, and more fear.

🔥 If You Don’t Follow:

• You risk serious side effects, drug interactions, and new symptoms — which worsen anxiety.
• You create a belief that “Google knows better than doctors”, which leads to distrust and dangerous self-treatment.
• You may delay proper diagnosis by masking symptoms with random medicines.
• You become more obsessive — constantly adjusting doses or switching meds without understanding the pharmacology.

💡 Do This Instead:

• Do not take any medicine unless prescribed by a qualified doctor.
• If you’re confused about a prescription — ask your doctor, not the internet.
• Make a list of questions for your next visit rather than jumping to conclusions from videos, forums, or WhatsApp forwards.
• Remember: One person’s recovery story is not your medical guideline.

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🧠 Key Insight for Patients:

“When you self-medicate, you’re not treating your illness — you’re treating your fear.”
And fear is not a good doctor.

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Visual flowchart looks like:

Symptom → Google Search → Panic → Self-Medication → Side Effects → More Panic

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🔁 Final Words: You Are Not Alone

If you have health anxiety, it doesn’t mean you’re weak.
It means your brain is trying to protect you too much.
And with some self-awareness, therapy, and structured guidance, you can reclaim your peace.

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📞 Reach Out If You Need Help

Mind & Mood Clinic, Nagpur (India)
Dr. Rameez Shaikh, MD – Psychiatrist & Counsellor
📞 +91-8208823738
🩺 In-person & video consultations available

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⚠️ DISCLAIMER:

This content is for awareness and educational purposes. It does not replace medical or psychiatric consultation. For diagnosis and treatment, consult a licensed mental health professional.