Clinically reviewed by Bülent Ada, BSc.(Psychol.)(Hons.), MAPS · Updated September 2025

Everyone worries about their health sometimes. A new symptom, an unusual pain, a family member’s diagnosis — these things prompt concern, and concern can motivate useful action like seeing a doctor.

Health anxiety is different. It is not ordinary concern. It is a persistent, often overwhelming preoccupation with the possibility of having — or developing — a serious illness, which continues despite medical reassurance and significantly impairs daily life.

People with health anxiety often feel embarrassed or frustrated with themselves. They know, on some level, that their worry is disproportionate. But knowledge rarely quiets health anxiety. Understanding why it persists — and what can actually help — is the purpose of this article.

What Is Health Anxiety?

Health anxiety (known clinically as Illness Anxiety Disorder, or Somatic Symptom Disorder with predominantly anxiety features, in DSM-5-TR) is characterised by:

• High anxiety about having or developing a serious illness
• Persistent worry that normal body sensations are signs of serious disease
• Extensive checking behaviour (repeatedly checking the body for symptoms, repeated medical visits)
• Avoidance of health-related information or medical settings due to fear
• Little or no relief from normal medical assessment or reassurance

Health anxiety exists on a spectrum. Many people experience subclinical health worry that does not meet full diagnostic criteria but still significantly affects their quality of life — particularly in the post-COVID era.

Why Is Health Anxiety So Common Now?

Several factors have contributed to an increase in health anxiety presentations in recent years.

The COVID-19 pandemic created legitimate, widespread health threat — and left many people with a heightened, ongoing vigilance about their bodies that hasn’t returned to baseline. For those with a pre-existing vulnerability to anxiety, the pandemic created ideal conditions for health anxiety to develop or intensify.

Access to medical information online. The ability to search symptoms online in seconds is genuinely useful — and genuinely problematic for people prone to health anxiety. Search engines optimise for engagement, not reassurance. The rare serious diagnoses consistently appear prominently. “Dr Google” reliably transforms a tension headache into a possible brain tumour.

Symptom awareness without context. Knowing what symptoms can mean, in the absence of clinical knowledge about how to weight their significance, often drives more anxiety rather than less.

How Health Anxiety Works: The Maintenance Cycle

Understanding why health anxiety persists requires understanding the cycle that maintains it. This cycle has several components:

Perceived threat → A normal bodily sensation (a racing heart, a headache, a lump) is interpreted as potentially dangerous.

Attention shift → Attention becomes focused on the body, increasing awareness of sensations that would otherwise not be noticed. (Focus on your left hand right now — you’ll notice sensations you hadn’t noticed a moment ago.)

Checking and reassurance-seeking → To reduce anxiety, the person checks (examines the area, Googles symptoms, visits a doctor). Checking provides brief relief.

Temporary relief → return of anxiety → The relief is short-lived. Soon, uncertainty creeps back. “But what if the doctor missed something?” “The article said this could also be a sign of X.” Anxiety returns, often more intense.

Avoidance → Some people with health anxiety avoid medical appointments or information altogether — fearing confirmation of the feared illness. This maintains anxiety differently: the feared illness is never disproved, so the worry persists without reality-testing.

This cycle is self-perpetuating. The checking and reassurance that seem like the obvious response to health anxiety are actually what maintain it. They provide temporary relief at the cost of long-term entrenchment.

The Role of Reassurance: Why “Just Getting Checked” Doesn’t Help Long-Term

This is perhaps the most counterintuitive aspect of health anxiety — and the one most difficult for both sufferers and their families to understand.

Seeking reassurance (from a doctor, a family member, or the internet) feels like the rational thing to do. But in health anxiety, reassurance functions like a safety behaviour: it provides enough relief to maintain the cycle, without addressing the underlying anxiety.

Each time reassurance brings relief, it reinforces the message that the threat was real and that checking was necessary. Over time, the amount of reassurance needed to achieve relief increases, and the threshold for anxiety decreases.

This does not mean medical attention should be avoided. It means that once a medical professional has assessed a symptom and not found a cause for concern, repeatedly re-presenting for reassurance about the same symptom is more likely to maintain anxiety than resolve it.

Effective Treatment for Health Anxiety

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is the most extensively researched psychological treatment for health anxiety. It involves:

• Psychoeducation — understanding the maintenance cycle
• Cognitive restructuring — examining and modifying unhelpful beliefs about health, risk, and catastrophe
• Behavioural experiments — testing beliefs directly (e.g., “what actually happens if I don’t check this symptom for a week?”)
• Reducing safety behaviours — gradually reducing checking, body scanning, and reassurance-seeking

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

For health anxiety that functions more like OCD (with compulsive checking), ERP may be incorporated — deliberately facing health-related triggers and tolerating the uncertainty without engaging in checking behaviour.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT approaches health anxiety by shifting the goal from “feeling less anxious” to “living fully despite uncertainty.” This involves accepting the fundamental uncertainty of health and mortality — an uncertainty that, for all of us, is real — while committing to actions aligned with values rather than driven by fear.

“Reassurance fasting”

An informal but clinically-used strategy: a deliberately agreed period (typically 1–2 weeks) during which the person commits to not seeking reassurance — from doctors, family, or the internet. This allows the natural decline of anxiety that occurs when checking is removed. The initial increase in discomfort is expected and temporary.

This strategy is best implemented with professional guidance rather than alone.

When to Seek Professional Support

Consider seeking professional support if health anxiety is:

• Significantly interfering with daily life, work, or relationships
• Leading to frequent medical appointments without resolution
• Causing significant distress despite normal medical results
• Preventing you from engaging in activities for fear of triggering symptoms

A GP is a good starting point. They can refer you to a psychologist with a Mental Health Care Plan. Psychological therapy for health anxiety is effective, and most people see meaningful improvement within 10–15 sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is health anxiety?

Health anxiety, known clinically as Illness Anxiety Disorder, is a persistent and often overwhelming preoccupation with having or developing a serious illness, which continues despite medical reassurance and significantly affects daily life. It can involve interpreting normal body sensations as signs of disease, extensive checking, or avoidance of medical settings. It exists on a spectrum, and many people experience distressing subclinical worry.

Why does getting checked not relieve health anxiety?

In health anxiety, reassurance functions like a safety behaviour. It provides enough relief to keep the cycle going without addressing the underlying anxiety. Each time relief follows checking, it reinforces the message that the threat was real and checking was necessary. Over time more reassurance is needed for the same relief, so repeatedly re-presenting for the same symptom maintains anxiety.

Why has health anxiety become more common?

Several factors contribute. The COVID-19 pandemic created widespread health threat and left many people with heightened ongoing vigilance about their bodies. Easy access to medical information online is useful but problematic, as search engines optimise for engagement and surface rare serious diagnoses prominently. Knowing what symptoms can mean, without clinical context for weighting them, often increases anxiety rather than easing it.

What is the best treatment for health anxiety?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the most extensively researched treatment. It includes understanding the maintenance cycle, examining unhelpful beliefs about health and risk, behavioural experiments, and gradually reducing checking and reassurance-seeking. Exposure and Response Prevention may help where checking is compulsive, and ACT focuses on living fully despite uncertainty. Most people see meaningful improvement within around 10 to 15 sessions.

Should I stop seeing doctors if I have health anxiety?

No. New or changing physical symptoms should always be assessed by a medical professional. The aim is not to avoid medical care but to recognise that once a symptom has been properly assessed and no cause for concern found, repeatedly seeking reassurance about the same symptom tends to maintain anxiety. Strategies like a brief reassurance fast are best done with professional guidance.

Related reading

• Anxiety treatment services
• How CBT works
• How OCD-style checking works

About the author: Bülent Ada is the Principal Psychologist and Founding Director of Mind Health Associates in Parramatta, Sydney. With over 20 years of clinical experience, Bülent works with individuals navigating anxiety disorders including health anxiety, panic disorder, and generalised anxiety. Learn more about Bülent.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. New or changing physical symptoms should always be assessed by a medical professional.

Ready to take the next step? Mind Health Associates offers evidence-based treatment for anxiety disorders in Parramatta and via telehealth across Australia. Contact us to enquire about appointments.