How Is Cognitive-behavioral Therapy Used For Hypochondria?
Hypochondria is a psychological disorder that is very annoying and can even lead those who develop it to adopt behavioral patterns that put their health at risk.
Luckily, it is a disorder that can be treated effectively from Psychology, and specifically, from the cognitive-behavioral model applied to hypochondria. Let’s see how.
Hypochondria, also called hypochondriasis, is a psychopathological disorder. in which the person develops a combination between fear of developing one or two specific diseases, on the one hand, and obsessive thoughts related to self-checking and confirming that one suffers from the symptoms of those diseases, on the other.
That is, the person suffers due to the fear generated by the idea of having developed a health problem, and at the same time they become prone to interpret any experience as a sign that they have developed that illness, so that they end up resorting to the “self-diagnosis” practices. Not even going to the doctor and being informed that he does not suffer from a medical illness serves to reassure the person in the medium and long term.
In this way, hypochondria can be seen as an extreme view of what happens to apprehensive people, but in some ways it also presents some qualitatively different characteristics. For example, the focus of what causes fear is always on diseases that arise within the body (and not on the fear of injury), and in addition, hypochondria interferes with the person’s quality of life, causing them to adopt patterns of avoidance-based behavior. A tendency toward avoidance that is not justified by one’s true state of health or by the risks of contracting or aggravating an illness.
Furthermore, generally The discomfort associated with hypochondria is linked to real physical health problems, especially in the form of pain and itching. That is why it is included in somatoform disorders (recently renamed somatic symptom disorder), given that the psychological discomfort generated by this vicious circle of anxiety, self-checks and obsessive thoughts can generate physical discomfort through suggestion. .
On the other hand, it should be noted that the simple belief that one has “poor health” without mentioning a specific alteration cannot be considered hypochondria. For this psychological disorder to occur, the person must name the pathology (or pathologies) that he believes he has, and based on these beliefs, interprets in one sense or another those things that it sees as symptoms. In any case, the diagnosis of this type of psychopathological problems can only be made by professionals in psychiatry and clinical psychology.
How is hypochondria treated from cognitive-behavioral psychology?
As we have seen, hypochondria is based on a dynamic of feedback between anxiety and fear, on the one hand, and self-checking behaviors, on the other. These two elements lead the person to be very prone to suffering obsessive thoughts and to have a very biased view of their state of health, since both through thoughts and through interaction with the environment and with their own body. You have constant reminders that there are aspects of your body that worry you.
For this reason, cognitive-behavioral psychology is very effective, since it also acts in two ways: it intervenes both in the mental and private processes associated with the management of emotions and thoughts, and in observable actions. In fact, it has been observed that the effects of this form of psychological intervention last long after psychotherapy has ended.
But let’s look in a little more detail at the psychological intervention processes that take place in the cognitive-behavioral model applied to hypochondria.
1. Questioning dysfunctional beliefs
Cognitive restructuring is one of the pillars of cognitive-behavioral psychological intervention, and consists of raise key questions and ideas that lead the person to question their most dysfunctional beliefsthose that have been underpinning the dynamics of thought and behavior that give strength to the disorder.
That is to say: the patient is not directly confronted, criticizing him for believing certain things, but rather he is invited to check for himself to what extent these ideas resist being contrasted with reality.
2. Detection of problematic thoughts
Knowing how to identify recurring thoughts (that is, those that appear involuntarily breaking into our consciousness) that precede self-checks is very useful to neutralize their influence on us. By getting used to seeing them from an objective and “rationalized” point of view, we are more resistant to getting carried away by the negative feelings they generate in us, given that We emphasize the predictable nature of these.
3. Training in anxiety management techniques
Some of these techniques have immediate effects, and others have both immediate and cumulative effects in the medium and long term. Some examples of relaxation techniques would be controlled breathing with the diaphragm, Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation, etc.
4. Development of new healthy lifestyle habits through a routine plan
This element of cognitive-behavioral therapy involves both objectively limiting self-checking behaviors (for example, establishing a clear daily and weekly limit), and implement life routines that were previously avoided for fear of aggravating or contracting an illnessso that little by little the person learns to lose the fear of these experiences.
You may be interested: “10 daily habits that improve your emotional balance”
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