Health Anxiety

Anxiety creates all kinds of weird impressions. For years, I thought I was afflicted with a whole bunch of ailments and life-threatening diseases. I was sure I had all the symptoms, but I probably created them all because of how I worried so much about dying.

Here's a book I would have loved to read during that period: It's Not All in Your Head, by Gordon J.G. Asmundson, PhD, and Steven Taylor, PhD.

In it, the authors explain that like other forms of anxiety, health anxiety involves changes in thoughts, physiology, and behavior. Also like other forms of anxiety, health anxiety can range from mild to severe. Mild health anxiety can be temporary and can sometimes be a signal to follow up on some bodily change or sensation by seeking advice from a doctor. But it can also be excessive and preoccupying. When health anxiety is out of proportion to the risk of disease and persists even though there is no evidence of disease, mental health professionals often refer to it as a health anxiety disorder. Like the other anxiety disorders, it has an impact on all aspects of health. The trick, of course, lies in figuring out what is out of proportion and inappropriately persistent. That is, how much is too much?

The Whiteley Index

Over the years, a number of tests have been developed to assist researchers and doctors in evaluating patients for health anxiety. The authors have found that the Whiteley Index is particularly useful for self-assessment. Here are the questions asked:

Answer YES or NO.

1. Do you often worry about the possibility that you have got a serious illness?
2. Are you bothered by many pains and aches?
3. Do you find that you are often aware of various things happening in your body?
4. Do you worry a lot about your health?
5. Do you often have the symptoms of very serious illness?
6. If a disease is brought to your attention (through the radio, television, newspapers, or someone you know), do you worry about getting it yourself?
7. If you feel ill and someone tells you that you are looking better, do you become annoyed?
8. Do you find that you are bothered by many different symptoms?
9. Is it easy for you to forget about yourself, and think about all sorts of other things?
10. Is it hard for you to believe the doctor when he or she tells you there is nothing for you to worry about?
11. Do you get the feeling that people are not taking your illness seriously enough?
12. Do you think that you worry about your health more than most people?
13. Do you think there is something seriously wrong with your body?
14. Are you afraid of illness?

Give yourself a point for every YES response to all questions except number 9, for which you get a point if you answered NO.

This should produce a score between 0 and 14. Higher scores indicate higher levels of health anxiety. A score of 8 or more usually indicates a high probability of a health anxiety disorder.

If you scored 8 or higher, try getting your hands on this book. It will provide you with the building blocks for learning strategies that will help you change the way you think about and respond to the bodily sensations that you are now interpreting as disease related. You'll learn the relationship between health anxiety and other mental health conditions, including the anxiety disorders and depression, which often co-occur with excessive health anxiety, as well as methods you can use to self-assess anxiety and mood disorders.

You can purchase It's Not All in Your Head at Amazon.com by clicking here.

Big hugs,
Mudd
xoxo

P.S.: Questions or not, I'd love to hear from you. Please email me at
anxietybuster@gmail.com or simply click the link on the sidebar.