1. What is Hypochondria:
Hypochondria is also known as health phobia. It is a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as it shares many common features with OCD. It is an intense form of fear over one's health and in some occasions over other people's health as well.
A hypochondriac would interpret a cough as a sign of lung cancer, or a headache as a brain tumor.
Almost every medical student has passed through this at a time of his life, but with time, and due to constant reading and exposure fears will diminish as more understanding of the illnesses would be acquired through daily reading and practice. This fact can give an idea on the approach that will lead to healing. In addition, the thought of the medical student in advanced stages will be focused on details of illnesses rather than on symptoms such as hypochondriacs. That is why you find a hypochondriac very well informed of symptoms of many serious illnesses. Knowledge is power indeed, but in this case, a hypochondriac would have a plenty of information that can be obtained through the internet or any other sources without the solid basis to interpret correctly, hence leading to the bottom of a spiral of fear and doubt and pessimism.
At times, a hypochondriac would not feel worried, but as soon as an incident, news, or hearing about a certain disease provokes negative thoughts, the worry cycle would start.
Obsessions would come in a way that one would be thinking constantly of him being sick, or might get sick with a serious illness. While people tend to underestimate their symptoms, someone who has hypochondria tends to exaggerate every single symptom even if it is a small bleeding mole in the leg.
Compulsions can come in the form of attending the doctor's clinic to have a checkup, not believing the results, and then going to the same or another doctor again to get assured that nothing is going wrong. A hypochondriac might cease going to the doctor in the fear of hearing the bad news, and he will try getting assured from other sources. One of the recent and frequently used sources is the internet; hence the illness would be more likely to be called Cyberchondria. And this is another way of practicing compulsions. A hypochondriac would navigate over the internet for many hours searching for symptoms and will always find them very applicable to his case. Definitely the fact that many serious and low grade illnesses share many symptoms is a material of extreme concern for hypochondriacs who always expect the worse.
Hypochondria at many times starts with a spark, a piece of news, or a thought that one had at night. Soon you will be searching for symptoms, and applying to yourself. Your mind will be full of information about serious illnesses symptoms in a way that does not leave space for other low grade normal symptoms. These thoughts of symptoms will then be on top, on the shelve, and will be the first thing that comes to your mind. Being introduced to low grade illnesses and their symptoms which are much more common than serious illnesses in our lives, and the chance to catch them is way higher than having serious illnesses could be very effective to stabilize your thought pattern assisted by psychotherapy. As you may know, serious illnesses share a lot of symptoms with common illnesses, and as your mind is nearly full of symptoms of serious illnesses, they will be the first to come to mind as you have a certain sensation or a certain feeling in your body, or even a real symptom.
For instance a swollen gland is much more likely to be a sign of a common illness rather than lymphoma. But as your mind is full of lymphoma symptoms, you will interpret swollen glands as a sign of lymphoma.
A hypochondriac would interpret a cough as a sign of lung cancer, or a headache as a brain tumor.
Almost every medical student has passed through this at a time of his life, but with time, and due to constant reading and exposure fears will diminish as more understanding of the illnesses would be acquired through daily reading and practice. This fact can give an idea on the approach that will lead to healing. In addition, the thought of the medical student in advanced stages will be focused on details of illnesses rather than on symptoms such as hypochondriacs. That is why you find a hypochondriac very well informed of symptoms of many serious illnesses. Knowledge is power indeed, but in this case, a hypochondriac would have a plenty of information that can be obtained through the internet or any other sources without the solid basis to interpret correctly, hence leading to the bottom of a spiral of fear and doubt and pessimism.
At times, a hypochondriac would not feel worried, but as soon as an incident, news, or hearing about a certain disease provokes negative thoughts, the worry cycle would start.
Obsessions would come in a way that one would be thinking constantly of him being sick, or might get sick with a serious illness. While people tend to underestimate their symptoms, someone who has hypochondria tends to exaggerate every single symptom even if it is a small bleeding mole in the leg.
Compulsions can come in the form of attending the doctor's clinic to have a checkup, not believing the results, and then going to the same or another doctor again to get assured that nothing is going wrong. A hypochondriac might cease going to the doctor in the fear of hearing the bad news, and he will try getting assured from other sources. One of the recent and frequently used sources is the internet; hence the illness would be more likely to be called Cyberchondria. And this is another way of practicing compulsions. A hypochondriac would navigate over the internet for many hours searching for symptoms and will always find them very applicable to his case. Definitely the fact that many serious and low grade illnesses share many symptoms is a material of extreme concern for hypochondriacs who always expect the worse.
Hypochondria at many times starts with a spark, a piece of news, or a thought that one had at night. Soon you will be searching for symptoms, and applying to yourself. Your mind will be full of information about serious illnesses symptoms in a way that does not leave space for other low grade normal symptoms. These thoughts of symptoms will then be on top, on the shelve, and will be the first thing that comes to your mind. Being introduced to low grade illnesses and their symptoms which are much more common than serious illnesses in our lives, and the chance to catch them is way higher than having serious illnesses could be very effective to stabilize your thought pattern assisted by psychotherapy. As you may know, serious illnesses share a lot of symptoms with common illnesses, and as your mind is nearly full of symptoms of serious illnesses, they will be the first to come to mind as you have a certain sensation or a certain feeling in your body, or even a real symptom.
For instance a swollen gland is much more likely to be a sign of a common illness rather than lymphoma. But as your mind is full of lymphoma symptoms, you will interpret swollen glands as a sign of lymphoma.
2. Symptoms of Hypochondria:
What applies to Hypochondria applies to OCD when it comes to symptoms.
Also someone who has hypochondria would experience feelings of hopelessness as he sees no future with his deep belief that he would die with a severe illness. In fact, the illness that he has is hypochondria the thing that he does not quite recognize.
3. Treatment for Hypochondria:
The treatment of Hypochondria is similar in many aspects to that of OCD.
In order to download the guide that will help you in treating Hypochondria, click here.
The treatment of Hypochondria is similar in many aspects to that of OCD.
In order to download the guide that will help you in treating Hypochondria, click here.
