Worrying about our health is natural, and it helps us maintain a healthy lifestyle and take care of ourselves. However, in some cases this concern can become excessive, generating states of anxiety.generating states of anxiety. This is known as hypochondria.
It is a disorder that causes a lot of discomfort but can go unnoticed, so it is important to recognize its symptoms. In this article we teach you how to detect if you are a hypochondriac person and overly worried about illnesses.
- Related article: “How to control your nerves: 8 strategies to remove anxiety”.
What is hypochondria?
Hypochondria is a mental disorder that causes excess of preoccupation by the possibility of being suffering from a serious disease or fear of contracting one.
The hypochondriac will feel that the slightest discomfort in their body may be a symptom of some disease, and will immediately become obsessed with the idea that they are suffering from a serious or fatal disease.
Usually this excessive worry is unjustified and can appear simply because you are and can appear by the simple fact to be feeling a small discomfort, as it can be a headache.such as a headache, or after finding a mole.
This constant preoccupation can affect the daily life of the person who suffers from it, since the fear ends up generating pictures of anxiety and may cause the person to avoid certain activities or places for fear of contracting an illness.
9 symptoms to know if you are a hypochondriac
If you identify with some of these symptoms, you are most likely a hypochondriac and need to be treated with a professional.
1. Constant worry about getting sick
As we mentioned, the main characteristic of hypochondriasis is a constant worry about getting sick. hypochondriasis is a constant and excessive concern about health, fearing that you are suffering from a disease.fearing to be suffering from an illness or fearing to be able to develop one.
If you are a hypochondriac, as soon as you have a small headache you will be assaulted by the ideas that it may be a serious or even fatal disease.
2. Look for the symptoms of the disease
Hypochondriacs are alarmed by any symptom and do not hesitate to look for information about it on the Internet. They tend to self-examine to confirm or rule out that they may be suffering from a disease. They also are concerned about detecting new symptoms and performing self-diagnoses..
Seeking this information on the Internet can aggravate fear and worry, since it is easy for many mild symptoms to be part of a serious illness. Therefore, by consulting about the disease, the person will reinforce his or her conviction that he or she has something serious and worsen his or her worry even more.
3. Apprehension
This search for symptoms can generate apprehension in the hypochondriac person, and it is possible that he/she even starts to worry about the symptoms.It is possible that they may even start to develop psychosomatically other new symptoms related to the disease they are worried about.
For this reason they also stay away from reading news or watching programs related to medical topics or being close to people with illnesses, as their tendency to somatization can affect them.
4. Negativity and catastrophism
The person with hypochondria has a tendency to negativity and catastrophism, imagining the worst possible situation in any case.imagining the worst possible situation in any case. For example, if they get a wound, they may well end up imagining that it could get infected and end up causing death.
5. Reaffirmation of their health
Hypochondriacs constantly seek to talk about their health with friends or relatives, even visiting their doctor, to reassure them that they are well and do not suffer from any disease. They seek reassurance and reassurance that they are healthy, even when they have no symptoms of any disease.even when they have no symptoms of any kind.
6. Medical diagnosis is never enough
However, even if they are assured that everything is fine and they do not suffer from any disease, they will continue to think that they may have something. Hypochondriacs have a tendency to think that the doctor can be wrong or that the tests are not conclusive.They may need second opinions.
7. Anxiety and real symptoms
Worry and fear can lead them to suffer from anxiety, where real symptoms such as tachycardia, chest pain, dizziness or choking sensation are present. real symptoms such as tachycardia, chest pain, dizziness or choking sensation, leading them to think that it may be a sign of a serious illness.They may think that they could be a sign of a serious illness.
8. Avoid certain activities or places
There are hypochondriacs who avoid activities that they may consider dangerous to their health, for fear that it may lead to illness. fear that it can lead them to become ill or to suffer some type of injury.. The same happens with going to certain places that may seem risky, for fear of contagion.
9. It affects daily life
You are definitely a hypochondriac if all these worries and habits end up negatively affecting different aspects of your daily life. end up negatively affecting different aspects of your life, such as work, your jobsuch as work, your family relationships or your social life.
The anxiety generated by constantly worrying about your health can become an obstacle in your daily life. In that case it should be treated as a disorder and you should go to professionals to help you with this problem.
- Related article: “The 10 types of psychologists there are and how to choose the best therapy.”