How to Stop Worrying About Your Health: Managing Health Anxiety

You felt a twinge in your chest yesterday. Now you can’t stop Googling “heart attack symptoms.” Or maybe it’s the headache that won’t quit—the one that has you convinced you have a brain tumor, even though your doctor says you’re fine.

Sound familiar?

Health anxiety is exhausting. It’s the constant loop of checking your body, searching symptoms online, and seeking reassurance that never quite sticks. The fear of serious illness takes over, even when every medical test comes back clear.

Here’s the good news: Health anxiety is one of the most treatable anxiety disorders. With the right strategies, you can break the worry cycle and get your life back.

What Is Health Anxiety?

Health anxiety means you’re stuck in intense worry about your health that won’t go away, even after medical tests show you’re fine. It’s also called illness anxiety disorder. This goes way beyond normal health concerns.

Normal worry: You notice a weird rash, see your doctor, get it checked, feel relieved when it’s nothing serious.

Health anxiety: You notice a weird rash, Google it for three hours, convince yourself it’s skin cancer, get medical tests done, feel better for maybe a day, then start worrying about something else.

The condition was previously called hypochondriasis but now has a more accurate name in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Health anxiety—or illness anxiety disorder, as mental health professionals call it—is surprisingly common. You’re not alone in this.

The key difference? People with health anxiety misinterpret normal body sensations as signs of serious illness. Your heart races after climbing stairs at your South End office building. Most people think “I need more cardio.” People with health anxiety think “heart attack.”

How Health Anxiety Differs from Other Conditions

It’s worth noting that illness anxiety disorder is distinct from somatic symptom disorder, though they’re both anxiety disorders. In somatic symptom disorder, people experience significant physical symptoms that cause distress. In illness anxiety disorder, the focus is on the fear of having a serious illness, even with minimal or no symptoms.

Both conditions benefit from similar treatments, and a mental health professional can help determine which diagnosis fits your experience.

What Are the Signs of Health Anxiety?

The pattern is what matters most. Not the occasional worry about a symptom, but a cycle that takes over your daily life.

You might recognize these signs in yourself:

• Spending hours each day thinking about your health or researching symptoms
• Constantly body checking—feeling for lumps, monitoring your heartbeat, examining that mole again
• Making frequent medical appointments but never feeling reassured for long
• Avoiding medical TV programmes because they trigger panic, or watching them obsessively

Other warning signs include:

• Asking loved ones “Does this look normal to you?” multiple times a day
• Avoiding activities because you’re afraid they’ll make you sick
• Skipping actual medical care because you’re terrified of bad news
• Getting temporary relief from reassurance, then doubting it an hour later

This creates a vicious cycle. The more you check, search, and seek reassurance, the more anxious you become. Your brain learns that these behaviors are necessary—even though they’re actually feeding the problem.

Many people with health anxiety also experience other anxiety disorders. It’s common to have both health worries and generalized anxiety, or health anxiety, alongside obsessive compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.

What Causes Health Anxiety?

Health anxiety isn’t your fault, and there’s no single cause. Several factors can contribute to why some people get stuck in this pattern.

Stressful life events and past illness often trigger illness anxiety disorder. Maybe you watched a loved ones battle cancer. Maybe you had a scary health episode yourself—a medical emergency, unexpected test results, or a serious medical condition that required extensive medical care. Maybe a friend your age had a heart attack, and now every chest pain feels like a warning sign.

These experiences make sense. They taught you that life-threatening illness is real and can happen to anyone. The problem is when your brain’s threat detection system gets stuck on high alert, seeing danger in every normal sensation.

Other factors play a role too. Traumatic medical experiences—a misdiagnosis, a primary care physician who dismissed your concerns, a painful procedure—can make you hypervigilant about your body. Mental health conditions like obsessive compulsive disorder or post traumatic stress disorder can co-occur with anxiety disorders like health anxiety.

And then there’s Dr. Google. What starts as a quick symptom search turns into a three-hour deep dive into rare diseases. By 2 AM, you’re convinced that tingling in your hand means ALS, even though you probably just slept on it wrong.

How Can I Control My Health Anxiety?

You can get control back. The goal isn’t to never worry about your health again—it’s to stop the worry from running your life.

Cognitive behavioral therapy works best for anxiety disorders, including illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder. Here’s why: Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you to catch catastrophic thoughts in real time.

When you notice a weird sensation in your arm, your brain might jump to “heart attack.” CBT helps you pause and ask: “What’s more likely—a heart attack at 32 with normal blood pressure, or muscle tension from sitting at my desk all day?” A mental health professional guides you through building this skill until it becomes automatic.

What You Can Start Doing Today

The first step is breaking the reassurance cycle. I know—when anxiety spikes, checking WebMD or texting your friend “Does this sound normal?” feels like it helps. But that relief lasts maybe an hour before doubt creeps back in.

Try this instead:

• Set a “worry window”: Pick one 15-minute block each day to address health concerns. Outside that time? Note the worry and move on.
• Limit body checking to twice daily: Morning and evening only. Set phone reminders if needed. People with health anxiety often check dozens of times without realizing it.
• Replace Googling with grounding: When tempted to search symptoms, try this—name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste. Takes 90 seconds.

Yes, tolerating uncertainty is hard at first. Your brain will protest. That’s normal.

Build a Worry Tracking System

Grab your phone’s notes app. When health worries spike, write down:

• The physical sensation (“heart racing”)
• The thought that followed (“I’m having a heart attack”)
• What you wanted to do (Google it, call doctor, ask partner)
• What you actually did

After a week, patterns emerge. Maybe every Tuesday night after deadline stress. Maybe after scrolling health news. These patterns give you—and your mental health professional—something concrete to work with.

What Works in the Moment

When panic about your health floods in, your body needs immediate help before your brain can think clearly.

Box breathing works fast. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. Repeat 4 times. It sounds too simple to work, but it signals your nervous system to calm down.

Movement breaks the loop. Walk to Freedom Park. Do 10 jumping jacks. Dance to one song. Physical action interrupts the spiral.

Text a friend something unrelated to health. “What are you watching tonight?” gets you out of your head.

The goal? Ride out the anxiety wave without feeding it. The wave peaks and passes—usually within 10-20 minutes if you don’t fuel it with body checking or reassurance-seeking behaviors.

Does Health Anxiety Go Away?

Illness anxiety disorder is highly treatable. Most people who engage in treatment see significant improvement. But let’s be honest about what “better” looks like.

Research shows both in-person and internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy produce strong results for anxiety disorders like health anxiety and somatic symptom disorder. Treatment helps people develop lasting skills for managing worries when they pop up.

Recovery doesn’t mean your health worries disappear completely. Instead, you learn to manage anxiety more effectively so it doesn’t control you. You might still have moments of worry—that’s normal—but you’ll have strategies that actually work.

Here’s what changes for people with health anxiety who complete treatment: That racing heartbeat after climbing stairs? You’ll think “I’m out of shape” instead of “heart disease.” The headache? “I need water” instead of “brain tumor.” The compulsive body checking and Googling gradually lose their hold.

Some people find illness anxiety disorder flares during stressful times. A loved one’s cancer diagnosis. A scary health story in the news. Charlotte’s pollen season making your chest tight. These triggers are normal. Having a treatment plan with your primary care provider or mental health professional helps you navigate them without spiraling back into constant worry.

When Should I Seek Help for Health Anxiety?

If illness anxiety disorder affects your daily life, relationships, or work, it’s time to reach out. You don’t need to wait until things feel unbearable. Many people live with anxiety disorders for years before seeking help, but early intervention often leads to faster improvement.

Consider seeking support if:

• You’re spending more than an hour daily worrying about your health
• You’ve made multiple appointments with your primary care physician for the same concern without feeling reassured
• You’re requesting repeated medical tests even when results come back normal
• You’re avoiding normal activities—exercise, travel, intimacy—because of health fears
• Your partner or friends are frustrated with constant reassurance-seeking
• You’re making frequent emergency room visits for symptoms medical tests don’t support

Here in Charlotte, especially in neighborhoods like South End, Dilworth, and Myers Park, we see many people struggling with anxiety disorders like health anxiety and somatic symptom disorder. High-achieving professionals who can’t turn off the worry. Parents terrified something will happen to them. Young adults convinced every symptom is serious.

The therapists at Therapy Group of Charlotte understand how distressing this is. We’re trained in evidence-based approaches that actually work for illness anxiety disorder. When you come in, we’ll start by understanding your specific patterns—what triggers your health worries, what checking behaviors you’ve developed, and how this has impacted your life. From there, we create a personalized approach that fits your situation.

Self-care programs can help, particularly if you want to start making changes on your own first. Brief interventions show promise in reducing symptoms of anxiety disorders. But working with a mental health professional provides personalized support and accountability that makes recovery more effective.

This is one of the hardest things to manage alone. Mental health conditions like illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder deserve the same attention as physical health conditions. There’s no need to keep suffering through this.

If you’re looking for support with health anxiety, the therapists at Therapy Group of Charlotte are here to help. Schedule an appointment to start building skills that will actually give you relief from the constant worry.

Frequently Asked Questions About Health Anxiety

What is health anxiety and how does it differ from normal health worries?

Health anxiety is a mental disorder characterized by excessive worry about having or developing a severe illness despite having little or no physical symptoms. Unlike normal health concerns, health anxiety involves compulsive behaviors such as repeated body checking and seeking reassurance, which interfere with daily life and cause extreme anxiety.

Can health anxiety cause physical symptoms?

Yes, anxiety itself can cause minor symptoms like headaches, a racing heartbeat, or muscle tension. People with health anxiety often misinterpret these normal body sensations as signs of a serious medical illness, which can create a vicious cycle of worry and physical distress.

How is health anxiety diagnosed?

A primary care provider or mental health professional diagnoses health anxiety based on clinical evaluation, ruling out actual medical illness through normal physical examinations and medical tests. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) criteria help differentiate health anxiety from other anxiety disorders and somatic symptom disorder.

What treatment options are available for health anxiety?

Treatment often includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps patients develop balanced thoughts and gradually reduce compulsive behaviors. In some cases, medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be prescribed. Regular follow-ups with healthcare providers and a structured treatment plan are important for managing symptoms.

Can health anxiety lead to frequent visits to the doctor or emergency department?

Yes, people with health anxiety may visit multiple physicians and make frequent medical appointments or emergency department visits seeking reassurance. However, excessive medical testing rarely provides lasting relief and can contribute to financial stress from medical bills.

Is health anxiety related to other mental health issues?

Health anxiety often co-occurs with other anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, or post traumatic stress disorder. The stigma related to mental health issues can sometimes prevent individuals from seeking the help they need.

How can I support someone with health anxiety?

Offering confidential support, encouraging them to seek professional help, and avoiding reinforcing their excessive concern by providing reassurance can be helpful. Encouraging self help techniques and media avoid strategies, such as limiting exposure to medical TV programmes, can also support recovery.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition. If you are in crisis or experiencing thoughts of self-harm, please call 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or go to your nearest emergency room.