Stop worrying about your health and enjoy life. Many of us have a tendency to worry unnecessarily about our health. This can be worse in a time of global panic about pandemics. For some, the anxiety becomes chronic, and they may spend many hours checking for symptoms, seeking reassurance from others, surfing the internet for information about different diseases, or repeatedly visiting the doctor. It is distressing for them and for everyone around them. In fact, health anxiety can be very successfully treated with cognitive behavioural therapy - the approach taken in this self-help guide. Using a structured, step-by-step approach, the authors explain how the problem develops, how to recognise what feeds it and how to develop effective methods of dealing with it. - Includes questionnaires, case studies and exercises - Based on proven CBT techniques - Includes a chapter on fear of death and fear of vomiting

Grounded in current theory and treatment research, this highly practical book presents a comprehensive framework for assessing and treating health anxiety, including full-blown and milder (subclinical) forms of hypochondriasis. The current state of knowledge about these prevalent and costly problems is reviewed, and assessment methods and empirically supported treatments described. Clear, step-by-step recommendations are provided for engaging patients or clients, implementing carefully planned cognitive and behavioral interventions, and troubleshooting potential pitfalls. Important advances in pharmacotherapy for persons with health anxiety disorders are also discussed. Enhancing the utility of this clinician- and student-friendly resource are numerous case examples and sample dialogues, quick-reference tables and boxed material, and over 20 reproducible handouts and assessment forms.

Fully updated edition of the bestselling self-help book, now recommended on the national Books on Prescription scheme. This ever-popular guide offers a self-help programme, written by one of the UK's leading authorities on anxiety and based on CBT, for those suffering from anxiety problems. A whole range of anxieties and fears are explained, from panic attacks and phobias to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalised anxiety. It includes an introduction to the nature of anxiety and stress and a complete self-help programme with monitoring sheets based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The following websites may offer useful further information on anxiety disorders: www.social-anxiety.org.uk www.stress.org.uk www.triumphoverphobia.com

Discover essential skills to liberate yourself from persistent anxiety about your health. Are you constantly worrying about your health, or the health of a loved one? Do you frequently check yourself for lumps, bumps, tingling, or pain? Do you find yourself endlessly looking up symptoms on the internet? Perhaps you find yourself asking others for reassurance or validation that you’re okay, obsessing over health scares in the media, or monitoring your blood pressure on an hourly basis? No matter how your health anxiety manifests, it can be a crippling psychological burden. Endlessly ruminating about illness and death can affect all aspects of life—at home, work, school, as well as the doctor’s office. And if you’re obsessing over the health of a loved one, that can put tremendous pressure on the relationship. In Freedom from Health Anxiety, nationally recognized anxiety expert Karen Lynn Cassiday teaches you skills to conquer health anxiety, once and for all. You’ll learn to switch from focusing on worst-case scenarios to appreciating the joy of the present moment—regardless of health status. Using a blend of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), positive psychology, and the author’s “learned inhibition” model, you’ll finally acquire the tools you need to take charge of your fear and break the cycle of stressing over your—or your loved one’s—well-being. You’ll also learn effective methods for tolerating health uncertainty, getting in touch with your body’s cues, and rediscovering the pleasure of the present. It’s time to find freedom from the obsessive fears that stand between you and true happiness. If you’re ready to trade endless hours of online self-diagnosis (Goodbye, Dr. Google!) for a life filled with a genuine appreciation for each moment, this book will show you the way.

Contemporary culture includes a high awareness of personal and global health hazards. Many people may feel some anxiety in this regard, but some develop an unbearable sense of dread that prevents them from functioning. Treating Health Anxiety gives prescribing and non-prescribing clinicians, as well as the counselors and social workers who encounter the problem, the tools to reduce both the fears and the medical costs that so often accompany them.

If you experience troubling symptoms, it’s only natural to worry about your health. But if your anxiety persists even after doctors tell you they can find nothing wrong, it may be hurting you more than it helps. You might research medical conditions on the internet, exercise constantly, or check your body for signs of disease, all the while growing more and more consumed by worry. And that worry has consequences of its own—the never-ending cycle of anxiety can all but destroy your quality of life. If you’re ready to stop being overly preoccupied with fears about your health, Overcoming Health Anxiety offers an evidence-based approach called cognitive behavioral therapy to help you get started. You’ll learn the difference between people with health anxiety and hypochondriacs, find the root of your health anxiety, and challenge illness-related thoughts. In time, you’ll drastically reduce your fears and enjoy a life free from recurring health-related worries. This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit — an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.

Between 25% and 50% of visits to primary care clinics are for somatic complaints with no identifiable organic pathology. While most people are reassured when told they are not ill, a certain percentage is convinced the doctor has missed something serious. For centuries, hypochondriasis and persistent somatic complaints have baffled physicians and mental health professionals alike. Recent decades, however, have seen advances in the understanding and treatment of this problem when it is considered a form of "health anxiety." In this highly practical and accessible book, Jonathan Abramowitz and Autumn Braddock present a model of health anxiety and hypochondriasis grounded in the most up-to-date clinical science and that incorporates physiological, cognitive, and behavioral processes. They also offer a step-by-step guide to assessment, conceptualization, and psychological treatment that is derived from this model and integrates strategies for psychoeducation, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy (exposure and response prevention), and dealing with resistance to treatment. The book is packed with illustrative clinical examples and therapist-patient dialogues. Sample forms and handouts are also provided. This volume, which also addresses motivational problems and other common obstacles in treating individuals with health anxiety, is an essential resource for students and researchers in behavioral medicine and health psychology, and for anyone working with patients in hospitals, primary care settings, academic medical centers, and freestanding mental health clinics.