What it's like to deal with 'relentless' health anxiety: 'I think I’m going to die’ - USA TODAY

Alanah Sarginson, 20, experiences health anxiety.

“If I think I’m going to die, I don’t really care how embarrassing I am because obviously it’s like the most ultimate threat,” she explained.

This hyper-focus on health concerns is something that people with health anxiety can struggle with daily, said Melissa Dowd, a therapist at PlushCare, a virtual mental health and primary care company.

Many may be more familiar with the former term hypochondria (or more technically hypochondriasis), which was replaced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2013 by two updated concepts: somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder. .

Ken Goodman, LCSW, board member for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and creator of “The Anxiety Solution Series” audio program, explained that health anxiety can also be an extreme reaction to external triggers, such as news reports or social media posts about illnesses like cancer.

The rationalizing can be challenging though, she said, explaining, “My brain almost gets into this thought cycle where what I struggle with is knowing when it’s appropriate to take action or not.".

She continued, “I can see it’s irrational but there’s this really persistent thought in my head, which is always like, what if this is the one time I don’t get help?”.

"We like to draw these lines between mental health and physical health, but it’s not separable like that," she said. "If you’re having a really bad time mentally, you’re going to be feeling lots of things physically.

"It's stuff like that, where, even though it is real, it's this weird kind of synergy between the anxiety and the health effects from the anxiety," she said.

It’s really debilitating

"It’s almost like madness, sometimes I really think I’m going insane

“I’ll be honest, when I was younger and I heard people say they suffered from anxiety, I thought they were nuts and I thought they were making it up for attention," Mick said

"I don’t think I’m somebody that people would look at as an irrational person who doesn’t have logic or agency over their behavior and thoughts and things," Hupe said, but "logic just goes out the window when you’re dealing with something like this." 

“We’re absolutely seeing an increase in depression and anxiety related to the pandemic and certainly around health anxiety,” she said

“I don’t think anyone should have to manage this or suffer alone," Dowd says. "There’s so much support out there, so I really encourage people not to have any shame or judgment around it if you are experiencing anxiety or depression – it’s just so important to reach out for support."

“It’s really important to focus on the things we do have control over, for example, following the CDC guidelines, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and proper diet and exercise – which is not only a positive effect for physical health but it’s also so important for your mental health," Dowd suggested

“Definitely setting small, achievable goals to try to overcome the feelings of anxiety is important,” she said

If someone has gone to doctors repeatedly, doctors have not found a medical diagnosis and they're continuing to worry, Goodman says, "it is probably illness anxiety and they need to seek the assistance of a therapist who treats anxiety exclusively."