Hypochondria: How to Detect and Effectively Treat This Psychological Disease?

Do you think you are always sick? Do you know what hypochondria is and what it means? Discover what a hypochondriacal disorder is like, how to detect it and what its causes are to leave it behind.

It is not so strange that many people, faced with any symptom, go to search on the Internet to check if they may correspond to a serious illness. There are times when we experience symptoms and sensations that correspond to banal illnesses or something temporary, but when the concern about suffering serious illnesses is excessive and constant we speak of hypochondria or a hypochondriacal disorder

What is hypochondria? Meaning

The hypochondria It is a disorder known to people and is sometimes used in confidence with lightness “Don’t be a hypochondriac!”, but in reality it generates a lot of anguish and fear in the person, preventing them from carrying out daily activities normally.

The person with hypochondriacal disorder He maintains a permanent concern for self-observation of his body and constant fear of the appearance of an illness. When certain internal sensations are felt, which correspond to normal physiological changes, the person becomes obsessed with analyzing said sensation and searching for information about diseases. This leads to a threatening interpretation and causes an irrational fear of suffering something serious. Such a state of anxiety is maintained during hypochondria, imagining and analyzing each symptom, that the person does not distinguish between real and imaginary sensations.

What does it mean to be a hypochondriac?

If your body is sending you signals that you are sick, it is completely normal for you to start worrying. On the other hand, people who suffer from hypochondria and its symptoms They constantly believe that they may have a serious illness even though there are no signs of it. In fact, a hypochondriac person may feel anxiety that makes them unable to carry out day-to-day tasks.

Thus, be a hypochondriac It involves feeling extreme anxiety about imagined symptoms (or exaggerating some symptoms), even despite medical test results indicating otherwise.

What is it like to be a hypochondriac?

People who suffer from a hypochondriac disorder They have certain common characteristics. These attitudes are present in most cases where there is a psychological problem of this style.

1. Obsessive thoughts: He hypochondriac disorder It is characterized by this vicious cycle that keeps a person on alert for obsessive thoughts and bodily sensations and in a high state of anxiety.
2. Irrational fear: The irrational fear of suffering a terrible illness makes the hypochondriac person Continually look for symptoms that may be indicative of something serious. Therefore, if the slightest sign appears that would have gone unnoticed by another person, alarms go off and anguish and anxiety appear, causing greater discomfort. From the outside, others perceive that all pain complaints are exaggerated, however, with increased anxiety due to hypochondriacal disorder any symptoms worsen.
3. Lack of understanding on the part of others: The hypochondriac person She feels misunderstood since she thinks that no one takes seriously the seriousness of her possible “illness.” While he believes that he is sick and that his symptoms indicate it, what he hears from the rest of the people is that it is all psychological. When you say that everything is psychological, in reality you are being told that everything is a story; although of course what he feels is totally real, anything but a story. It must be taken into account that psychological processes generate real sensations in the body; Pain, anguish and psychosomatic symptoms are real, although the processes that trigger them are psychological and do not correspond to a physical illness.
4. Go to the doctor repeatedly: Some hypochondriacs They repeatedly go to the doctor to consult their symptoms and when the doctor rules out the diagnosis they remain relatively calm for a period of time. However, concerns about the same or other symptoms soon return. There are others who do not dare to go to the doctor and prefer to remain in doubt, since the moment they expect to face in the possibility of the doctor telling them that they suffer from a really serious illness generates too much anxiety.

What are the causes of hypochondria?

He hypochondriac disorder It usually appears at the beginning of adult life (around age 20) and can become especially intense after age 35 or 40. There are no obvious differences between men and women and it has a frequency of 5% in the general population, which represents a high percentage of the population.

The causes of hypochondria They are of learned origin, that is, one is not born a hypochondriac. It tends to appear more in insecure, distrustful and perfectionist people or due to a fear learned at the family level. Doubts about health can be normal, but they end up becoming a fixation when obsessive personality patterns occur.

Symptoms of hypochondriac disorder

At some specific moment, we can all feel something similar to what we say about hypochondria, but when it comes to a hypochondriacal disorder The suffering is very great and life becomes complicated. It is important to receive psychological help.

The most common symptoms in people with hypochondriacal disorder are the following:

• concern and fear of having or the conviction of suffering from a serious illness based on the personal interpretation of somatic symptoms.
• Concern persists despite medical examinations and explanations appropriate.
• Obsessive behaviors develop, causing real physical symptoms such as tachycardia, palpitations or digestive dysfunctions. Your vital parameters (blood pressure, pulse, temperature) are examined regularly.
• The concern causes discomfort clinically significant or deterioration in social, occupational or other important areas of the individual’s activity.

If you identify at any point with this disorder even if you do not suffer from it and you think that sometimes you are apprehensive or you search for symptoms on the Internet, it is important control those behaviors

How do I know if I am a hypochondriac? hypochondria test

Constantly worrying about your health can end up affecting your emotional well-being. The reason is that a person who thinks they have all the diseases or who feels that they are always sick ends up acting differently in front of others and can even disable their daily activities. So:How can we know if we suffer from hypochondriacal disorder? ?

• You look for information about each ‘symptom’ you have: Investigating some strange symptoms that we may suffer from occasionally is fine, but when this becomes an attitude that is too common and even obsessive, this can be a sign of hypochondria
• You are convinced that although your ailments are minor, they are actually terrible diseases: People with hypochondria are usually in a hypervigilance state with his body. In this way, you believe that any slight discomfort can be a sign that you are facing a serious illness.
• You feel fine, but you constantly worry about getting sick: If you feel well, but the fear of getting sick is constant, perhaps you are facing a hypochondriac disorder
• You continue to worry, even though your doctor tells you that you are fine: Being a hypochondriac It also implies that even though your doctor has given you good results, you feel that something is wrong.
• You are convinced that an illness will harm you: In general, a person with symptoms of hypochondria You often think that something is life-threatening even though there is no information to support it.

These are some of the signs that could indicate that you have a hypochondriacal disorder. If you think that these behaviors are affecting you, you can always consult with a professional psychologist.

How to deal with hypochondriacal thoughts?

It is important to understand the vicious cycle of obsessive behaviors and thoughts to stop them in time.

1. Irrational thoughts: Realize that these are irrational thoughts. The chances of getting sick are lower than those of being healthy.
2. Accept fear: Accept that you can feel afraid, but you cannot let that negative thought develop to the point of controlling your life. We must not forget that we are capable of controlling our own thoughts
3. Avoid information about diseases: Avoid reading or talking about diseases, you will always find some symptom that resembles something you have.
4. Don’t rely on imaginations: Observe what is really happening in your body, not what could happen.
5. Control hypochondriacal thoughts: When you feel panic about suffering from an illness, don’t think and give the fear time to pass.
6. Do not consult on the Internet: Never check your symptoms online, by doing so you are already predisposed to finding out that you have a disease.

Hypochondria and its treatment

Psychotherapy is the treatment par excellence for hypochondriac people although it can be combined with pharmacological therapy (treatment to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and depression that are associated with the disorder).

Psychological treatment usually focuses on detecting the cause of hypochondria and addressing fears, as well as resuming normal routine and repairing all aspects of the person’s life that have been affected. The objective at a behavioral level is for the person to stop continually checking whether they are healthy or not and accept that they cannot control everything, even if that means assuming the risk of having a disease and not knowing it. For this, there are different therapies that are effective: constructivist, cognitive-behavioral and brief strategic, among others.

The important thing to know how to cure hypochondria It is to see where this problem arises from and face it together with the patient. Many times a hypochondriac person hides a psychological problem behind this disease.

How to help a person who believes they have all the diseases?

If you think you are facing a case of hypochondria, It is normal for you to wonder how you can help this person. The first step is always to recommend the help of a mental health professional. You can also follow the following tips:

• Encourages you to know what hypochondria is and how it manifests
• Talk about hypochondriacal disorder
• Discourage excessive worry
• Don’t encourage their hypochondriasis by reviewing their symptoms too much.
• Discourages excessive doctor visits
• Be patient

People who suffer from hypochondriacal disorder have a lot of difficulty deactivating the ‘anxiety alarm’ in their head. For this reason, it is vital to be by their side, understand them and offer them all the support they need to face the challenges. symptoms of hypochondria