Health anxiety: someone to talk to when you can't stop checking symptoms

1. Get it checked once, with a plan

A steady relationship with one doctor, with visits scheduled ahead rather than booked every time fear spikes, is part of how illness anxiety is managed. ³ A written plan also gives you something to turn to besides a search bar.

1. Book one appointment with your regular doctor rather than several with different ones.
2. Write down the symptom, when it started, what makes it better or worse, and what you're afraid it is. Say the fear plainly: "I'm worried this is MS."
3. Ask, "What would make you want to see me sooner, and when should I come back if nothing changes?" Write the answer down.
4. Tell your doctor that health worry is hard for you. It helps them plan follow-up with you.
5. Between visits, let that list guide you rather than how scared you feel. Red-flag symptoms are still a 911 call.

2. Keep a checking log

The NHS suggests noting how often you check your body, ask for reassurance or look up health information, then gradually cutting back over a week. ¹ Counting turns an automatic habit into something you can see.

1. For three days, tally every check: pressing on a lump, taking your pulse, studying a mole in the mirror, opening a health app, asking someone.
2. Note what set it off and how long the relief lasted.
3. Pick one kind of checking and set a daily limit a little below your average.
4. Lower it again every few days. Fewer is the goal at first, not zero.

3. Postpone the search

A meta-analysis of 20 studies with 7,373 people found health anxiety strongly linked with cyberchondria, repeated online health searching that leaves people more distressed. The studies were correlational, so they can't show which causes which. ⁵ Searching isn't a reliable check anyway: in a 2015 audit of 23 online symptom checkers, the correct diagnosis was listed first about a third of the time. ⁶

1. When the urge to search hits, write the question down instead.
2. Wait 30 minutes and do something with your hands in the meantime.
3. When the time is up, compare the question with your doctor's "come back if" list. If it's on the list, call the office. If it isn't, and it's the same thing your doctor already checked, cross it off. If it's a new or different symptom, call your doctor's office during hours instead of searching.
4. Don't swap the search engine for a chatbot. Asking an AI, Aspen included, whether a symptom is serious is the same loop.
5. Delete symptom sites from your bookmarks.

4. Write the worry, then a balanced version

Writing your health worry in one column and a more balanced thought in the other is one of the NHS self-help steps for health anxiety. ¹ The point isn't to prove you're healthy, which nobody can do. It's to make room for the uncertainty everyone lives with.

1. In the first column, write the exact fear: "This headache means a brain tumor."
2. In the second, write what else could explain it and what you actually know: "I've slept badly all week. Stress can cause headaches. My doctor gave me a plan."
3. Add one line about uncertainty: "I can't be 100% sure, and I can live with that until my follow-up."
4. Write it once and move on. Rewriting it ten times turns it into another kind of checking.

5. Get back to what you've been avoiding

NHS self-help advice for health anxiety includes doing something else when the urge to check hits, and gradually returning to activities you've dropped because of health worries. ¹

1. When you notice the urge to check your body, take a short walk or call someone.
2. List what you've stopped doing because of health fear: exercise, plans with friends, certain TV shows, even routine checkups.
3. Pick the easiest one and do a small version of it this week.
4. If you've avoided exercise because of heart or breathing worries, ask your doctor what's safe for you first.

Is health anxiety a type of OCD?

Not exactly, but the NHS describes it as related to OCD. ¹ Both involve frightening thoughts, checking and reassurance seeking, and both are treated with forms of CBT. A clinician can tell you whether your worry fits health anxiety, OCD, both or something else.

What if my doctor really did miss something?

It can happen, which is why a plan is better than a single "you're fine." Ask what follow-up makes sense, what would change the picture and when to come back. If you're still uneasy, one second opinion with your records is reasonable. Going from opinion to opinion tends to work like other reassurance, with relief that doesn't last. ⁷

Should I stop using my smartwatch or health apps?

If your doctor has asked you to track something, like blood sugar or blood pressure, keep doing it and ask how often to check and which numbers mean a call. If not, and you notice you check readings for reassurance, try turning off the alerts for a week and see whether the worry gets louder or quieter.

Can medication help with health anxiety?

Sometimes. Antidepressants are used for illness anxiety in some cases, alongside therapy and regular visits with a doctor. ³ Whether it makes sense for you is a decision to make with your doctor.