Becoming sick with health worry
ARE you a hypochondriac?
It may sound like a long word to describe bacteria on a Petri dish in a lab somewhere, but you would be surprised to find out that you actually are one.
We all know someone who is extremely paranoid about their health, who is constantly worried about getting ill or infected, constantly going to the doctor and thinking there may be something tragically wrong with them.
While we may roll our eyes at hearing the tales of these people’s doom and gloom, the reality is that millions of people live with this often misunderstood condition, that can be quite debilitating to their lives.
They live with the fear that they are, or will get, sick and are actually suffering from being a hypochondriac.
Psychiatrist Poppy Motene gives symptoms to look out for, as well as how to get the help you need to overcome this condition.
Motene says it is important to find a healthy balance between genuine health concerns and knowing when you are blowing things out of proportion and may need help.
“I tend to be a little apprehensive about telling people about health anxiety disorders because some people tend to misinterpret that as a solid statement from a professional to not care about their health, or to not take some warning signs in their bodies seriously. I would rather have someone come in to check on certain symptoms they may be worried about, rather than not bothering to check at all, and dismissing what could end up being a big medical emergency as something as casual as a stomach bug or ‘just a lump’,” she says.
“So my message first and foremost is to find the balance. If something seems sinister to you in your body, it is always a good idea to have a professional check it out and put your fears to rest, as some serious ailments require early detection for a better or favourable healthy outcome, like cancer for example.
“Having said that, if you are constantly worried about your health, and actually go into full panic mode when having a sore throat, for example, and interpreting that as cancer of the oesophagus, or you avoid places, people or objects with the fear that they will infect you or somehow transmit their infections to you, then you may have a health anxiety disorder, and may need to speak to a professional about it.”
Motene outlines some of the symptoms hypochondriacs may experience:
If you constantly have a nagging feeling that something is wrong with you physically. “The funny thing with how health anxiety disorders works is that this constant worry actually manifests into actual, real physical symptoms that you can feel, and that becomes gratification for your worry. Almost like ‘See, I told you something was wrong’!”
If you have a big distrust of doctors’ opinions. “Most people with health anxiety disorders often distrust what their doctors tell them when they are given a clean bill of health, and find themselves hopping from one doctor to another and convincing themselves that the doctor who could not find anything wrong with them may have ‘missed something’.
“You pride yourself on knowing everything about different diseases. While there is nothing wrong with empowering yourself with knowledge about different ailments, people with health anxiety disorders actually go out of their way to research different diseases in order to prove that something is wrong with them, or to equal the symptoms they believe that they have to a serious medical condition.” Raise a red flag if you spend an enormous amount of time researching health websites.
If you find that your life is crippled by your health anxiety. In extreme cases, some people will actually barricade themselves inside their homes in the fear of contracting something.