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 4192 reviews and the average rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars.

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"Great"

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"Very good"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"Overall it has been very easy to find a therapist that works for my schedule. The worksheets have been very helpful as well."

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"absolutely amazing, such helpful tips and has made me understand my issues and begin to work on how to deal with them"

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I like the worksheets and enjoyed our first video session"

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Rating: [5 out of 5 stars!]

"Fantastic service! Very thorough and detailed introduction and intake process."

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Rating: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"Has been very useful for a couple with very little available time with plenty of flexibility in sessions."

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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!]

"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: [4 out of 5 stars!]

"I have been using online therapy for a month and am quite happy so far. I like my therapist and have gained useful insights. Being able to message in between sessions is great. I have not really used the other resources provided in my membership like the yoga videos or self guided lessons. But so far, so good. I am planning to continue my membership and also recommended it to a couple of friends."

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