Do you spend your evenings frantically consulting Dr Google? Tuning into any (and every) body sensation you have and immediately predicting the worst?
Maybe you’ve even started “worrying about worrying” which only makes your anxiety worse.
After living through a pandemic and other uncertainties, it’s natural that we might be feeling a little more anxious than usual. In fact, in one sense, our anxiety can play a protective role through this. After all, it’s our anxiety which likely drove us to maintain social distancing, wash our hands, wear our masks and generally try and keep ourselves safe.
But sometimes it can go a step (or several) too far.
Whilst it’s good and healthy to be cautious, obsessing gets us nowhere. And the latter usually serves as an indicator that there’s something more at play.
What is Health Anxiety?
Health anxiety can be summed up by an excessive fear of having – or contracting – a disease.
Some of the symptoms to look out for are:
- You live with an almost constant fear that there’s something wrong with you.
- You find yourself scouring the internet looking for confirmation that you’re ill.
- When you read about a disease, you immediately start worrying you might have it.
- Your health worries have started to interfere in your quality of life.
- You frequently check for lumps, aches or unusual sensations.
- You avoid health-related news or conversations, or turn away at the first sight of them.
So, is it Your Mind Creating Symptoms?
In one sense yes, but that’s not the full story. If you have health anxiety your symptoms likely come from the mind, but they are still very much real. This is because anxiety affects both our mind and our body – with short and long-term effects.
Many of us are familiar with the mental and emotional symptoms of anxiety, but fewer are aware that there are physical side effects too. When we’re anxious, something called the “sympathetic nervous system” gets activated, and this is the part of our nervous system which is associated with threat, triggering our fight-or-flight response.
Fight or flight is the body’s automatic response to danger. It’s sole purpose is to help us stay alive when we perceive danger, and as the name suggests, it prepares us to either “fight” for our survival or to run away and “flee”.
When we’re in fight-or-flight mode, the body gets flooded with stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Our heart beats faster to send more blood to our muscles and our pupils dilate so that we can see better; alongside a whole range of other physical experiences we feel.
Back in our hunter gatherer days, when we were trying to flee that sabre-toothed tiger lurking in the bushes, this was quite literally a “life saver”. However, when it comes to our more modern and everyday anxieties, less so.
If we’re living with an anxiety disorder, our body is in this state almost constantly – something it’s not designed for. And things can fall out of whack pretty quickly. So it’s less about the mind creating symptoms. The symptoms are probably real – they’re just not a result of the illness you’re attributing them to.
Instead, they’re a symptom of your anxiety. Let’s now take a closer look at some of the physical symptoms of anxiety:
Feeling “Out of Body”, Dizzy or Faint
Fight or flight causes our breathing to become rapid and shallow – in other words, we start “hyperventilating”. Hyperventilation allows the lungs to take in more oxygen, preparing us to escape physical danger. But one of the side effects is that it can end up making us feel dizzy, lightheaded, tingly or faint.
Weakened Immunity
Prolonged anxiety can lead to inflammation in the body, weakening our immune system. This leaves us more vulnerable to catching a cold, the flu and other types of infection, as well as how long it can take to recover from these ailments.
Tummy Troubles
When we’re in fight or flight, our body puts a stop to processes it considers to be “nonessential”. One of these is our digestive system. This means that prolonged anxiety can lead to IBS-like symptoms, such as constipation, diarrhoea and food intolerances. We may also feel nauseous.
Weird Aches and Pains
In fight or flight mode, our blood flow gets sent to our largest muscles, preparing us for action. This can cause weird or uncomfortable aches, pains and twitches in the body which can be easily mistaken for something else more serious.
Heart Palpitations or Chest Pains
High levels of adrenaline can lead to heart palpitations or “fluttering” sensations in the heart, often creating further worries in that moment about your health.
Rashes, Itchiness and Changes to Your Skin
Heightened levels of stress hormones in the body can lead to inflammation in the body which may exacerbate pre-existing skin issues and conditions like psoriasis, eczema and acne.
Understanding the Mind-Body Connection
Your body and mind operate in tandem. Emotional distress can activate your body’s stress response, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which can intensify or trigger physical sensations. Over time, this can create a loop where anxiety fuels physical symptoms, and physical symptoms heighten anxiety.
What to Do When Health Anxiety Symptoms Seem so Real
Healthy anxiety symptoms seem real because they are real. So, firstly, it’s important to stress that just because your pain is caused by anxiety – rather something physical – doesn’t make it any less valid. Our mind and our body are one and the same. Your distress is real – it isn’t a fabrication.
But perhaps the biggest problem with health anxiety – as with many other psychological difficulties – is that it can easily become self-perpetuating. We become so hypersensitive to minor tweaks and sensations in the body that we find ourselves jumping straight to worst case scenario. When in reality, our body is shifting and changing all the time and some days are naturally going to feel better than others.
The more we worry, the worse the physical symptoms get. We become so convinced that we are sick, that we end up seeking out the wrong kind of help. And so the cycle continues…
CBT for Health Anxiety – How Can it Help?
Health anxiety is very much treatable. It’s not something you need to live with and it isn’t something you’re expected to just “get over”. Health anxiety often comes alongside other mental health issues like anxiety, depression and PTSD, so getting the right treatment is key.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help you break free from the negative cycle that maintains your anxiety. Very often this means looking at distorted thoughts and beliefs you have around your health, and reducing any unhelpful coping mechanisms that exacerbate your anxiety.
Schema Therapy can also help break this cycle by teaching you to identify and reframe the negative thoughts that escalate bodily tension. You can read about the different therapies we offer to see which approach might suit you best.
There’s no doubt our body holds an innate wisdom. But instead of obsessing over it, you’ll learn to use its subtle cues as a guide towards creating the life you want.
When to Seek Professional Support
It’s normal to worry about your health from time to time, especially in today’s fast-paced world. However, it may be time to reach out for help if:
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Medical Tests Are Clear but you continue to experience distressing symptoms.
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Anxiety Disrupts Daily Life, affecting work, relationships or your sleep.
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You Feel Overwhelmed by persistent, unshakeable health worries.
If you’re struggling with any of these issues, please remember you’re not alone. At The Chelsea Psychology Clinic, our expert team provide a range of treatments to alleviate anxieties.
Reclaim Control Over Your Anxiety
You don’t have to feel trapped by unexplained physical symptoms or ongoing health worries. With the right support, you can untangle the mind-body connection, address the root causes of your distress, and create lasting change in your life.
If you’re ready to explore how CBT, Schema Therapy, or other evidence-based approaches can help, get in touch with our team today. We’ll work with you to develop a personalised plan so you can regain control, manage stress effectively and live a healthier, more balanced life.
