By Joanne Martelli, PMHNP-BC
It is normal to worry about your health now and then—but when every minor symptom is like a dreaded disease, it can all too easily dominate your life. This perpetual fear is frequently associated with illness anxiety disorder, better known as hypochondria.
Many people with hypochondria have very real symptoms, even if medical testing comes back normal. This arises because anxiety can induce physical sensations in the body, making the cycle of worry even more difficult to interrupt.
In this blog, we will discuss what a hypochondriac is, typical warning signs, why symptoms can be real despite no medical basis, and steps to take to cope with health anxiety. The intention is to help you make sense of your experience and provide you with tools to reclaim peace of mind.
What Is a Hypochondriac? Understanding Health Anxiety
Who is a hypochondriac? Simply put, it’s a person who has an ongoing, excessive preoccupation with having or contracting a serious disease, even when medical tests indicate they’re healthy. The medical name is “illness anxiety disorder” and occurs in approximately 0.1% of the population.
This is what you need to know: being hypochondriac has nothing to do with drama or attention-seeking. It’s actually an anxiety disorder that can be life-disabling. I’ve had patients who were unable to work, sustain relationships, or even live life due to fixations on health.
The illness usually arises in early adulthood, usually after a personal illness, the death of someone from a disease, or other extreme stress in life. Approximately two-thirds of my health anxiety patients also have other disorders such as panic disorder, OCD, or depression.
Recognizing the Signs: Are You Someone Who Thinks They Are Always Sick?
If you’re wondering if you could be someone who believes they are perpetually ill, the following are the patterns I repeatedly observe in my practice:
Constant Health Monitoring
- Checking your pulse, blood pressure, or temperature multiple times daily
- Examining your body for lumps, bumps, or changes
- Becoming fixated on normal bodily functions like breathing or heartbeat
- Taking photos of moles or marks to compare changes
Excessive Medical Seeking
- Making frequent doctor appointments for minor symptoms
- Seeking multiple opinions when tests come back normal
- Requesting unnecessary tests or referrals to specialists
- Feeling unsatisfied when doctors say you’re healthy
Internet Health Research Obsession
- Spending hours researching symptoms online
- Visiting medical websites multiple times per day
- Joining health forums or disease-specific support groups
- Bookmarking medical articles about conditions you fear
Avoidance Behaviors
Some people become so afraid of discovering illness that they avoid:
- Regular medical checkups
- Reading health-related news
- Being around sick people
- Activities they think might cause illness
Social and Emotional Impact
- Constantly talking about health concerns with friends and family
- Feeling unable to enjoy activities due to health worries
- Experiencing relationship strain due to constant reassurance-seeking
- Having trouble concentrating on work or daily tasks
When Normal Health Awareness Becomes Problematic
It is normal and beneficial to pay attention to your body and seek medical help if needed. However, hypochondriac concern extends much beyond acceptable health consciousness. Here is how you can detect the difference:
Normal Health Awareness:
- Scheduling regular checkups
- Seeking care for concerning symptoms
- Following up on medical recommendations
- Feeling reassured by normal test results
Hypochondriac Behavior:
- Making appointments for every minor symptom
- Feeling convinced doctors are missing something serious
- Continuing to worry despite normal test results
- Allowing health concerns to interfere with daily life
The important distinction is that healthy persons can be reassured by medical evaluations, whereas those with health anxiety continue to believe something is wrong despite proof to the contrary.
The Statistics That Might Surprise You
Research on health anxiety reveals some fascinating insights that I share with my patients:
- Hypochondria accounts for about 5% of all outpatient medical visits annually
- More than 200,000 people are diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder each year in the US
- It’s estimated that over $20 billion is spent annually on unnecessary medical procedures driven by health anxiety
- About 75% of people with health anxiety have at least one other mental health condition
These numbers help my patients understand they’re not alone and that their concerns are taken seriously by the medical community.
Practical steps: How to stop being a hypochondriac (real strategies that work)
If you’re ready for less fear and more living, here are evidence-based, practical approaches I use with patients:
1. Limit symptom-checking and the internet loop
Set a rule: no symptom searches more than 15 minutes into a “research window” twice a week. Substitute scrolling with a brief distraction list (walk, call a friend, breathe). The less often you feed the worry, the less loudly it will cry.
2. Schedule “worry time”
Provide your worried mind with a mastered space to fret: 15–20 minutes per night, where you permit yourself to make lists of worries and potential next steps. This removes permission for worry to take over your entire day.
3. Use behavioral experiments
Rather than fighting with fear, try it out. For instance, if you’re used to checking your pulse 10 times a day and it convinces you of a heart condition, try suspending checks incrementally while observing what transpires. Frequently, nothing terrible happens, and your confidence increases.
4. Practice grounding and body-based techniques
When you notice symptoms peak, use slow diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique. These decrease physiological arousal and allow you to notice sensations without immediately jumping to conclusions.
5. Cognitive reframing (a gentle way to challenge catastrophic thoughts)
Write down the worry thought (e.g., “This headache is a brain tumor”) and then write down alternative, more probable explanations (tension, dehydration, lack of sleep). Test for evidence for and against each thought. With time, this diminishes automatic catastrophic thinking.
6. Limit reassurance-seeking
Repeatedly asking the same question over and over (“Am I okay?”) gives temporary relief but reinforces anxiety. Rather, have a plan agreed upon with your clinician: a precise follow-up time and quantifiable criteria for coming back early. That framework lessens repeated visits.
7. Consider structured therapy: CBT and ERP
The gold standard for health anxiety is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It pairs cognitive strategies (thought challenging) with behavior techniques (exposure and response prevention). Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) enables you to confront feared sensations or situations without engaging in safety behaviors (such as checking or Googling), showing your brain that anxiety reduces by itself.
8. Medication when appropriate
If anxiety is intense or blocking therapy, medication such as SSRIs can reduce overall anxiety levels and make therapy more productive. Medication is not a cure, but it may be a useful component in an overall plan.
Special Considerations for Different Age Groups
Teenagers and Young Adults
I see increasing numbers of young people with health anxiety, often triggered by:
- Social media exposure to health information
- Academic stress manifests as physical symptoms
- Increased awareness of mental health issues (ironically leading to health anxiety)
Middle-Aged Adults
This group often develops health anxiety related to:
- Aging parents experiencing health problems
- Personal awareness of mortality
- Hormone changes affecting mood and anxiety levels
Older Adults
Health anxiety in seniors can be complicated by:
- Actual increased health risks
- Multiple medications and medical appointments
- Social isolation amplifies worries
When to Seek Professional Help
As a healthcare provider, I encourage people to seek help when experiencing health anxiety:
- Interferes with work, relationships, or daily activities
- Causes significant distress or emotional suffering
- Leads to excessive medical visits or avoidance of necessary care
- Impacts sleep, appetite, or concentration
- Coexists with depression or other mental health concerns
Remember, asking for help is taking control of your mental health just as you would treat any other medical issue.
If you’re having trouble with health anxiety or other issues of mental health, don’t suffer in silence. Call (623) 692-9933 to arrange a consultation. I can assist you in escaping the pattern of health worry and finding the joy in living again.
Joanne Martelli, PMHNP-BC, has over 12 years of experience in psychiatric medication management and treats patients ages 4 through adulthood in Chandler, Arizona. She specializes in anxiety disorders, depression, OCD, and helping people develop healthier relationships with their physical and mental health.