Series Health Anxiety - article 1 of 6

Do you have health anxiety?

What exactly is health anxiety?

There are 2 types of health anxiety issues, one is known as a Somatic Symptom Disorder, and the other as an Illness Anxiety Disorder.  The recent events concerning COVID-19 have have general anxiety at a new level.

The somatic symptom disorder is characterized by various physical complaints which lead to excessive neurotic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with the symptoms. These symptoms are not always imaginary or self-produced, and may in fact accompany a known medical condition. That’s why it is always best to go to the doctor for a comprehensive examination. With the current COVID-19 situation, its easy. to. see how one could feel anxious.

People who have an illness anxiety disorder (also known as hypochondria) which usually develops during adulthood, are often unable to function properly in their daily lives, because of their fears about health issues.

In general folk with health anxiety normally experience symptoms which include an ongoing intense fear of having a serious condition, and worry that minor symptoms indicate something serious may be wrong.

Health anxiety persists in spite of reassurance from the doctor.

Some people who suffer from health anxiety may refuse to go to the doctor as they are afraid of what the diagnosis might be. This is a bad idea, as amongst all the irrational obsessions there just could be a life-threatening issue lurking in the shadows.

On another spectrum, there are those who continually visit the doctor for every little ache or pain, seeking reassurance that there is no serious medical illness pending. The doctor’s reassurance of good health will bring some relief, but mostly the relief is always of a temporary nature. As soon as new thoughts and different physical sensations pop up, the mis-interpretations of danger and disease resurface, only to result in more visits to the doctor, with possible requests to be referred to a specialist for extensive tests.

The resultant anxiety catapults you into yet another cycle of alarming thoughts and devastating expectations of a terrible illness.

About anxiety.

When you are anxious about something, it often becomes a protective structure, and this includes if you suffer from health anxiety issues. This results in obsessing about normal bodily sensations such as eyesight, heart rate, shallow or rapid breathing, and any other tweaks or pains which may occur. Any sensation which seems to be abnormal, can lead to you scanning your body over and over again, and because the sensations are real, you feel it is the right thing to do. 

Each scan of the body gives rise to more uncertainty and doubt, and as you imagine the worst scenario, general anxiety symptoms take over with the usual symptoms of hyper-ventilating, chest tightness, nausea and headaches.

Your imagination runs wild because although the symptoms may be real, the thoughts are false, and mostly figments of an overworked imagination.  

What about treatment for health anxiety?

Mental health experts agree that once valid medical problems have been ruled out, the most effective treatment is hypnotherapy in conjunction with NLP – neuro-linguistic programming. 

Hypnotherapy is able to access the subconscious mind and identify the origin of the harmful thoughts and ideas which cause anxiety. Hypnotherapy with NLP can help you overcome your fears by correcting irrational thought patterns and poor behavioral responses. You will learn how to create a new, positive mindset which will enable you to respond differently when anxiety threatens to overwhelm you. If you are feeling. the pressure of COVID-19, you can let go of such stress with hypnosis and NLP (HNLP).

The benefits of hypnosis and NLP include:

·      Eliminating poor behaviors.

·      Help you to have control over emotional and physical states.

·      Identify and remove limiting beliefs which hinder you from feeling better.

·      Learn how to approach anxious situations differently, by helping you to understand it is not always the situation which makes you anxious, but may indeed be irrational thoughts.

·      Give you the power and confidence to overcome irrational thoughts.

This treatment can give you the means to stay calm, as well as stay focused and productive in your daily life. 

Hypnosis and NLP can give you the ability to deal with stress and anxiety – not matter what comes your way in life.