Hypochondriasis (health anxiety)
Hypochondriasis is not exactly nosophobia. It's an obsessive fear of getting sick. People with hypochondria keep telling themselves they are sick and go to the doctor 7 times more often than an average person, or don't go there at all in fear of getting diagnosed with a deadly illness.
Everyone is sort of scared of cancer or diseases like rabies or mad cow disease, which are 100% deadly. Right now everyone is going crazy because of a coronavirus pandemic. But when it takes over, you can develop hypochondria.
you experience the symptoms of the diseases you're scared of;
obsessive doctor's appointments or avoiding them because of the fear of getting diagnosed with a deadly illness;
the feeling of being sure you have or will have a serious disease
searching the web for possible diseases.
The most common cause of hypochondria is thrauma. Like for example you're more likely to develop hypochondria if you or your loved one had a serious disease like cancer, especially if it resulted in their death.
If the hypochondria is really severe, it is usually treated with counseling or anxiety medication.
I am not diagnosed with hypochondria, but I'm almost sure I have it! I'd like to tell you what it made me feel. Recently I was obsessively scared of cancer. And guess what I felt like? I felt like I would rather die in the moment, without pain and without thinking than die at age 80 but from the hands of cancer. I just didn't want to hear the death sentence (cancer is NOT a death sentence, it can be treated), then come through all of the treatment like chemo, lose my hair and throw up every day. Right now I am panicking because I have cold, flu and clearly coronavirus like symptoms. But I learned to laugh at it.
How about you? Have you ever struggled with health anxiety? Share your experience in the comment section below!
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