Overcome Health Anxiety with Online Therapy

Category: Health Anxiety Online Therapy | Last updated: September 20th, 2025 | Reviewed and approved by:
Dr. Steven Gans, MD
Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, PhD

Are You Health Conscious or Health Anxious?

Almost every one of us gets concerned about our health and well-being. And that concern can motivate us to try to optimize our eating, sleep and to lead a healthy lifestyle. Being health conscious can be great. It helps a lot in leading a healthy, happy, successful and meaningful life.

However, problems arise when this health consciousness gets transformed into “health anxiousness”. If you become too obsessed about your health and if you get too apprehensive that you are suffering from a severe illness (without the presence of such medical symptoms), then you may be experiencing health anxiety. In the past, psychologists referred to this as “hypochondria”. However, it is now called Illness Anxiety Disorder.

Illness Anxiety Disorder is a somatic symptom disorder in which the person suffering from it gets overly anxious or obsessed over his/her physical conditions. They see even a minor problem as an exaggerated severe illness. People suffering from Illness Anxiety Disorder often require continuous care, support and assurance from health service providers, family and acquaintances.

See if you recognize yourself in the symptoms of health anxiety:

Being preoccupied with having or developing a serious disease or health condition
Worrying that minor symptoms or body sensations mean you have a serious illness
Being easily alarmed about your health status
Finding little or no reassurance from doctor visits or negative test results
Worrying excessively about a specific medical condition or your risk of developing a medical condition because it runs in your family
Having so much distress about possible illnesses that it's hard for you to function
Repeatedly checking your body for signs of illness or disease
Frequently making medical appointments for reassurance — or avoiding medical care for fear of being diagnosed with a serious illness
Avoiding people, places or activities for fear of health risks
Constantly talking about your health and possible illnesses
Frequently searching the internet for causes of symptoms or possible illnesses

What’s more, people with Illness Anxiety Disorder can also experience additional mental health issues, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Clinical Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

Treatment Procedures

The good news is that Illness Anxiety Disorder can be treated. Effective methods of treatment include Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy and support. You can receive these types of treatment here at Online Therapy.

Reviews

Our online therapy services have received 4203 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"My therapist was wonderful and so many great ideas and suggestion. Thankyou Olga."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I found myself a counceller who listen, understand what I am feeling and provides appropriate tools to guide me. I am very comfortable and enjoy the guidance so far.
The platform is easy to maneuver."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"All the therapists I've had on the platform are very friendly, supportive, and are teaching and providing guidance for a lot of things about myself. Highly recommended"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I am learning new things about myself and I have a wonderful counsellor to thank for that"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"This is my first time in therapy and even though I haven't been here long, I will say Online Therapy presents its information in a very clear way. I appreciate the support from not only my therapist but also from the videos and sections."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"So far I’ve had a great experience with my therapist, he’s been a great person and easy to talk to. The online therapy platform did have some small issues but was later fixed quickly by support"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I love this program"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I really like the lessons and especially the worksheets. They’re very useful because they help me identify my problems and work on improving them. It makes me feel like an active participant. I also like that I can choose whether to watch the video, listen to the audio, or read the text. Overall, I’d say this course is more comprehensive than any other CBT treatment I’ve done so far."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I enjoy the active PC experience to work at my pace"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"It has been a lifesaver to find online counseling, I really appreciate my Dr and her insight."

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