Health anxiety

We all worry about our health from time to time. This can be helpful to motivate us to improve our lifestyle, for example, to give up smoking, eat healthily or drink less alcohol. However, if you are worrying about issues that are not real or worrying excessively, it can impact on your wellbeing and affect your ability to lead a normal life.

Do you recognise these common signs of health anxiety?

What you feel:

  • Sense of dread
  • Worried
  • Panicky
  • Tense, on edge
  • Anxious, frightened
  • Detached or unreal

What you think:

  • Worrying about a specific health problem or range of problems, for example, this must be cancer
  • Imagining the worst and dwelling on it, for example, I may die if I don't do something
  • Concentrating on certain parts of your body and comparing symptoms
  • Worrying your doctor has missed something

What happens to your body:

  • Restless or jumpy
  • Light headed
  • 'Odd' symptoms that you have not noticed before
  • Headaches
  • Muscle tension
  • Stomach churning
  • Heart racing
  • Tingling in toes, fingers

What you do:

  • Go to the doctor frequently
  • Check your body for symptoms or changing symptoms
  • Ask family, friends and doctor for reassurance about health
  • Check medical books or the internet about symptoms to see if they may be serious
  • Either avoid TV programmes about health or watch them all the time
  • Act as if you are ill, for example, resting too much, avoiding doing exercise

If you want to reduce or manage your health anxiety, and you are ready to make changes to improve your wellbeing, then we may be able to help:

You can also find more information on NHS Choices and in Our useful resources and links.