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 4228 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I would like to talk about the good. I really didn't care for the first therapist. I met with her twice. Like many, I was worried about getting a good one, and more worried about switching if I had to. I didn't have any choice in the first one. She was just assigned to me. But switching was painless and far easier than I thought. I didn't need to explain or anything. You just hit a button to switch and then I had about a dozen choices. I enjoy my second therapist much better.

The CBT part of the website. I am not sure how I feel about it. I wanted to try guided CBT and this website does a good job. I one face to face therapist before trying this website and she also wasn't very good. But the way she introduced and did CBT with me also wasn't good. This website does a great job of breaking it down with video and worksheets. I am about 70% done with video and worksheets and the early stuff helped me realize some problem areas, but some of the later work sheets just aren't clicking with me. I don't know. Maybe my issues are too complex. Or one week one thing is bothering me, a couple weeks later its something else. If I had a singular issue I could see CBT working better for me, but my self talk and automatic negative thoughts have not been consistent through out this trouble period of my life. I am not saying it hasn't been helpful, it has.

Either way, I see the CBT as kinda a bonus and not the main reason I signed up. I live overseas and English speaking therapists are extremely hard to find or EXTREMELY expensive. So the main reason I joined was be able to have access to a live therapist that speaks English. I am happy with how this website handles that and far cheaper for than local therapists."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"Helpful and convenient"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Eye opening, and helped me find my true self at my rock bottom! Addiction had its grasp of me for 10 years and this program not only saved me but my marriage!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Insightful therapist, thought provoking without being leading or preachy."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"So far has been very helpful, Patient and Kind. Offering tons of support and ideas and I'm only a few days into it. I am taking it slowly, but I am reassured that I can take it at my own pace. My therapist has been most helpful, Empathetic and Kind thus far. It is giving me something Positive to focus on. Great service and price range."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Great website full of really helpful resources!"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"He's been very understanding and helpful. No complaints"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Forward thinking."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I felt supported in my healing journey so far, which is lovely."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Finding the right counsellor for you is key. Online therapy gives you that choice at an affordable price and is very flexible for busy lifestyles. I've used counsellors through this site many of times and will continue to do so when needed."

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