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

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"Great experience"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Chelsea’s really great. There’s no rush through the meetings. Things are checked off and we walk through what needs fixing. She has a fantastic grasp of what I’m going through and how to apply her knowledge to each situation and bring out where the key pressure points are. Thanks for the help chels."

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"I have liked using this course and it has been very helpful learning new strategies to deal with some of my on going issues."

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"So far its working well!"

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

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"Helpful and convenient"

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"It helped me in my goals, completely changed my mindset"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"I feel like this is the perfect course. I have video calls with my therapist, I have a journal, I have other resources at my disposal to help guide me along the process. I write in my journal daily, and I do the worksheets every week and discuss the results with my therapist. And if you do not like a therapist, you can always change to another, and this is common sometimes, but I believe I have found a great therapist. Another thing that I really like is that they have financial aid for those who are not in the economic spot like me, as I am in between jobs. I can still afford to do my therapy, as they have 3 plans available."

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"Great work so far."

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