Julie Answers: How can I deal with health anxiety?

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Jana says: I have health anxiety. I’ve gone to several therapists who were not familiar with what that even is. I feel symptoms like dizziness, being lightheaded, or random pains and sensations. I’ll feel nauseous and I don’t know why. I’ve gone to the doctor multiple times and have been told that I am fine. But my symptoms still continue. And it’s not that the symptoms happen when I feel anxious! If anything, I’ll feel dizzy and then it makes me anxious.

Dear Jana,

It must have been extremely frustrating to seek help and find only therapists who were not prepared to even address this topic.

I worked with a client who, prior to our work together, had suffered from severe and debilitating health anxiety. By her report, it consumed her life for a period of a year or two. She saw numerous specialists during these years and had every diagnostic test a person can have. When the tests results came back giving her a clean bill of health, she would find that impossible to believe, and would go on to another doctor and more tests.

During this time she obsessively read stories online about people who did indeed have severe medical issues that were missed by multiple doctors. Reading these stories fed her belief that her situation was the same — that there was something truly wrong with her…