Hypochondria

This condition describes excessive worrying about your health, to the point where it causes great distress and affects your everyday life.

People with hypochondria fall into one of two extremes:

They constantly seek information and reassurance, for example, obsessively researching illnesses on the internet, visiting their GPs frequently and having tests that don’t find any problems.

Others avoid GP appointments, medical TV programmes or anything else that might trigger the anxiety because they believe these make the condition worse.

If you answer “yes” to most of the questions below, it’s likely that you’re affected by hypochondria and might benefit from talking to your GP. During the past six months:

Have you been preoccupied with having a serious illness because of perceived symptoms, a preoccupation which has lasted at least six months?

Have you felt distressed due your preoccupation?

Have you found that your obsession impacts negatively on family life, social life and work?

Have you needed to do constant self-examination and self-diagnosis?

Have you felt disbelief over a diagnosis from a doctor, or felt unconvinced by your doctor’s reassurances that you are fine?

Do you constantly need reassurance from doctors, family and friends that you’re fine, even if you don’t really believe what you’re being told?