Health Anxiety

Health anxiety is excessive, persistent worry about having or developing a serious illness, out of proportion to any real medical danger and unrelieved by normal test results — and it's best understood as a dimensional problem running from normal caution through to the clinical disorders the DSM-5-TR calls Illness Anxiety Disorder and Somatic Symptom Disorder (the ICD-11 calls it hypochondriasis and now groups it near OCD). It affects roughly 6% of people, tends to be chronic if untreated, and is driven not by the body but by what we do about our fears: checking, googling and seeking reassurance, all of which ease anxiety briefly but strengthen it over time, making reassurance the central trap. The clear first-line treatment is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which has a large, durable effect and works by targeting those maintaining behaviours directly; medication (SSRIs) helps some people but is best seen as second-line or adjunctive — a genuine "skills before pills" picture. The outlook is good: most people who engage with treatment improve substantially and stay improved, and in Australia effective help is accessible now through a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan and proven free or low-cost internet programs like THIS WAY UP's Health Anxiety course and MindSpot.