From the Guidelines
Severe health anxiety can indeed cause symptoms like disorientation and specific fears about brain cancer or vision loss, as it involves excessive worry about having or developing serious illnesses, often despite medical reassurance. Health anxiety (also called illness anxiety disorder) is characterized by an excessive and persistent fear of having a serious illness, which can lead to physical symptoms such as dizziness, lightheadedness, and visual disturbances that may feel like disorientation or vision problems 1. The brain's fight-or-flight response during anxiety can affect blood flow, muscle tension, and breathing patterns, leading to these sensations. People with health anxiety often fixate on specific serious conditions like brain cancer, interpreting normal bodily sensations or minor symptoms as evidence of these feared illnesses.
According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guideline update on the management of anxiety and depression in adult survivors of cancer, it is recommended to use a stepped-care model, providing the most effective and least resource-intensive intervention based on symptom severity 1. For patients with moderate symptoms of anxiety, clinicians should offer cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), behavioral activation (BA), structured physical activity, acceptance and commitment therapy, or psychosocial interventions.
Key points to consider:
- Severe health anxiety can manifest as disorientation and specific fears about serious illnesses
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is highly effective for health anxiety
- Exposure therapy and mindfulness techniques can also help reduce anxiety symptoms
- A stepped-care model should be used to provide the most effective and least resource-intensive intervention based on symptom severity
- Clinicians should offer education regarding depression and anxiety to all oncology patients, and consider referral to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or equivalently trained professional for patients with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety 1.
From the Research
Severe Health Anxiety Symptoms
- Severe health anxiety can lead to significant negative impacts on well-being, social and occupational functioning, and health care resource utilization 2.
- Individuals with severe health anxiety may experience excessive fear and anxiety or avoidance of perceived threats that are persistent and impairing 3.
- Health anxiety is characterized by fear of, rather than conviction of, illness, and can lead to greater costs to health services through unnecessary medical contacts 4.
Fear of Brain Cancer and Vision Loss
- There is no direct evidence in the provided studies that severe health anxiety specifically causes fear of brain cancer and vision loss.
- However, severe health anxiety can lead to a range of fears and anxieties related to illness and disease, which may include fears about brain cancer and vision loss 2, 4.
- The concept of health anxiety may offer a unifying conceptual perspective on the fears of illness/symptoms worsening or returning commonly experienced by those with chronic disease, including fears about brain cancer and vision loss 5.
Disorientation and Health Anxiety
- Severe health anxiety can lead to significant distress and impairment, which may include feelings of disorientation 3.
- However, there is no direct evidence in the provided studies that severe health anxiety specifically causes disorientation.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy and other psychological treatments have been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of health anxiety, including excessive fear and anxiety 4, 6.