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My top 5 tips for therapists working with challenging presentations of health anxiety, by Dr Sophie Gwinnett, Clinical Psychologist and Health Anxiety specialist.
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Codsall-based Brightside Psychology is the latest organisation to join Compton Care Business Club as a Bronze member. The membership reflects Brightside Psychology’s commitment to the community and commitment to working with people who have long-term conditions. Brightside Psychology’s membership also brings a valuable, psychologically-focused perspective to the business club. Compton Care Business Club membership helps to strengthen the Compton Care’s ability to support the community and grow its services for the people who need them most. Members are able to access exclusive events, keynote talks and networking opportunities, including the monthly Compton Care Business Networking meetings held at the Codsall Community Hub. Brightside Psychology’s offices and Compton Care’s Cafe are also both located in Codsall Community Hub.
Health anxiety is a common condition thought to affect 5 – 10% of the population. People with health anxiety will experience frequent intrusive thoughts about health which impact their ability to engage meaningfully with life. Over time, individuals living with health anxiety will develop behaviour patterns that are designed to manage the intrusive thoughts; these might include checking parts of their body, seeking reassurance from healthcare professionals or researching health conditions on the internet. The relief, if any, is short lived with these behaviours. The intrusive thoughts rapidly return and the behavioural rituals become repetitive, as people attempt to find relief from the anxiety. Avoidance is also a common feature as people avoid situations that can trigger intrusive, anxiety-related thoughts. Over time, health anxiety and its associated rumination and behaviour rituals can become very time consuming. It can feel hard to engage meaningfully with work, family, friends or activities when preoccupied with intrusive thoughts. It can be very hard for loved ones to understand health anxiety because the intrusive thoughts might seem illogical. However to the person living with health anxiety, the thoughts feel very real and the anxiety overwhelming. If you are experiencing health anxiety, here are our 5 top tips for overcoming it: