HYPOCHONDRIA

Hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. It is an illness anxiety disorder, also called health anxiety, it's worrying excessively that you are or may become seriously ill. You may have no physical symptoms, or you may believe that normal body sensations or minor symptoms are signs of severe illness, even though a thorough medical exam doesn't reveal a serious medical condition. Headache, it must be a brain tumor. Bruise on your leg? Leukemia. Slightly nauseous? Either cancer or a heart attack. Welcome to the life of a hypochondriac, the conviction that one is ill, despite all evidence to the contrary. Hypochondria is more than an active imagination -- it is a real anxiety disorder - By R. Morgan Griffin. People who suffer from hypochondria make frequent doctors' appointments, insist on unnecessary tests, and see physical illness where medicine says there is none. They fret needlessly over diseases that procedures prove they don't have. They're obsessed with the idea that a disease is lurking, awaiting the right doctor and diagnosis. They experience ordinary discomforts more intensely than others, sinking often into a full-blown panic. They grow angry with physicians who fail to acknowledge sinister symptoms. "Hypochondriacs get caught in a cycle," says Arthur J. Barsky, "the more they worry about a symptom, the worse it gets." They're often highly attuned to bodily sensations that most people ignore. Every ache, every cough, every stomach gurgle is evidence of something going catastrophically wrong. Hypochondriacs don't just dwell on their disease, they act. They scour the Internet for information, demand lab tests from irritated doctors. They talk about it relentlessly. Everyone is concerned about their health and that is a good thing, but the Transition to Health Anxiety most be curbed, Hypochondria affects about one out of every 20 people. Here's how to cope, or at least better manage it: - Stay offline: Dr. Google is full of diagnoses, plenty of them wrong. Enter a symptom, say, stomach pain, and you'll learn you could have anything from appendicitis to esophageal cancer. And if it's the latter? Well, the outlook is bleak. "People find themselves a lot more anxious after checking these sites," says Brian Fallon. Some hypochondriacs, he says, spend hours a day trolling the Web, to the point that it interferes with their daily functioning. "They become so preoccupied and anxious about what they're reading," Fallon says. "Someone with a predisposition to health anxiety can do themselves a huge favor by staying off the net." - Stick with one doctor: Doctor hopping isn't helpful. But hypochondriacs are inclined to do so, if one doesn't see anything wrong, they assume, the next one will. Going from one doc to the next increases the likelihood of different diagnoses and unnecessary tests. "Find one who you trust, and don't make a change", Belling says. Try to create a good relationship with him, too. Be open and honest about your concerns and struggles. The right doctor will be supportive and will help direct your attention away from symptoms. "Hypochondriacs need to realize that one perfect doctor who can find everything or cure everything doesn't exist," Belling says. - Forget the self-checks: Obsessively monitoring your pulse? Blood pressure? Temperature? Put the at-home medical devices away. Focus on something aside from your body, it's much healthier and more productive. - Be active: Exercising helps ease stress, depression, and anxiety. No need for it to be intense, either; walk the dog, go swimming, or do some gardening. Stress makes sufferers feel more anxious, and may also exacerbate symptoms they already have. - Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): It's designed to help you recognize and stop behavior that's linked with your anxiety. Sometimes it includes exposure therapy; directly confronting and learning to cope with your fears. Research suggests CBT is effective; patients typically need about 16 to 20 sessions to see a difference. "People learn to look at things more objectively. You've been to 20 doctors and they all say nothing is wrong, so what does that suggest?" says Jon Abramowitz. - Learn about your condition: What is hypochondria? Why do you have it? Education is empowering and can motivate you to stick to a treatment plan. Understanding the condition often helps ease sufferers' worries. By: Sydiqah Uthman