From the Guidelines
I strongly recommend that you seek professional help from a healthcare provider who can offer personalized support for your anxiety, as this is the most effective way to manage health anxiety and improve your quality of life. According to the most recent and highest quality study, 1, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is often effective for health anxiety, typically involving 12-16 weekly sessions with a therapist. Medications such as SSRIs (like sertraline 50-200mg daily or escitalopram 10-20mg daily) may be prescribed if your anxiety is severe.
Some key points to consider:
- Health anxiety involves excessive worry about having or developing serious illnesses, often despite medical reassurance, and can create a cycle where physical symptoms of anxiety are misinterpreted as signs of illness, further increasing anxiety.
- Screening for anxiety is essential, and the GAD-7 scale is a recommended tool for assessing anxiety symptoms, as suggested by 1.
- Relaxation techniques like deep breathing (inhale for 4 counts, hold for 2, exhale for 6) and mindfulness meditation for 10-15 minutes daily can help alleviate anxiety symptoms.
- It is crucial to limit health-related internet searches as they can worsen anxiety, and instead, focus on receiving accurate and reliable information from healthcare professionals.
- A comprehensive assessment of anxiety symptoms, including severity, possible stressors, and underlying problems, is necessary to develop an effective treatment plan, as outlined in 1.
By seeking professional help and following these recommendations, you can better manage your health anxiety and improve your overall well-being.
From the Research
Reassurance for Health Anxiety
- A 31-year-old female experiencing extreme health anxiety can be reassured that anxiety disorders are common, with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 34% in the US 2.
- Health anxiety can be characterized by symptoms such as worry, social and performance fears, unexpected and/or triggered panic attacks, anticipatory anxiety, and avoidance behaviors 2.
- Brief screening measures, such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, can aid in diagnosis of anxiety disorders, with a sensitivity of 57.6% to 93.9% and specificity of 61% to 97% 2.
Treatment Options
- First-line treatments for anxiety disorders include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as sertraline, and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as venlafaxine extended release 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
- CBT has been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, with a large effect size compared to placebo 2, 4, 5, 6.
- SSRIs, such as sertraline, have also been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, with a small to medium effect size compared to placebo 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
- The combination of CBT and medication, such as sertraline, may be more effective than either treatment alone 4, 5, 6.
Considerations
- When selecting treatment, clinicians should consider patient preference, current and prior treatments, medical and psychiatric comorbid illnesses, age, sex, and reproductive planning, as well as cost and access to care 2.
- Adverse events, including suicidal and homicidal ideation, were no more frequent in the sertraline group than in the placebo group in some studies 4, 6.
- CBT was associated with lower attrition rates and fewer adverse events compared to medication 5, 6.