The thought of living with pain and suffering or losing years of one’s life to illness can be very upsetting. It’s important to know your health history and your risk factors for serious conditions. And seeking care when you’re not feeling well is a necessary and responsible way to take care of yourself. Being proactive about good health is a great thing, but when it’s coming from a place of fear, you can’t live the full and meaningful life you want to live.

We can’t always control the life conditions that affect our health, and dealing with this uncertainty can be a challenge. Health anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are two conditions people can develop as a response.

They may look similar on the surface, but there are some important differences between health anxiety and OCD. This article explores the features that these conditions share and the differences between them.

What’s the connection between health anxiety and OCD?

Health anxiety is a condition on its own. OCD can have some features that look like health anxiety, but there are some additional symptoms. People with health anxiety worry about worsening health or the possibility that they may have a serious illness. The difference with OCD is that anxiety is only one element in a four-part cycle. It begins with uncontrollable or intrusive thoughts, which lead to anxiety, relief-seeking compulsions, and then temporary relief. People with OCD repeat this entire cycle even though the relief never lasts, with varying levels of awareness.

Health anxiety can drive a person to look for reassurance, research conditions they might have and check themselves for symptoms often. With OCD, these behaviors start to interfere just as much as the anxiety itself. It is possible to have both a serious illness and anxiety about your health; even so, health anxiety and OCD often contribute to a lower quality of life, even more than the physical symptoms alone.

Health concern OCD and several other subtypes have been proposed. However, because treatment for all varieties of OCD is generally the same, the DSM-5-TR doesn’t distinguish between them all. This is the manual clinicians use to diagnose conditions and determine treatment methods.

A closer look at health anxiety 

It’s hard to describe health anxiety as a concept because each person’s health history and symptoms are unique. People with health anxiety typically experience excessive worries and fears about worsening health and how it will affect their life. It’s often impossible to know if you’ll develop a serious condition or how your symptoms will progress. People with health anxiety usually have a high degree of fear that doesn’t match up with their symptoms or their reality.

Some people develop health anxiety before they can be sure they’re getting sick. Having a family history of a condition like Alzheimer’s or different types of cancer causes anxiety for some. Others start to feel it after some scary physical symptoms that eventually go away. Sometimes the symptoms that cause anxiety are a normal part of the aging process. Changes in vision, fluctuations in heart rate and blood pressure, shallow breathing, and loss of balance or muscle tone are just a few normal symptoms that can cause a lot of anxiety.

Seeing test results or receiving reassurance from a doctor usually doesn’t provide relief. Some may avoid going to the doctor altogether because they’re afraid of receiving a diagnosis. In cases where there’s reasonable cause for concern, a high level of anxiety can worsen a person’s quality of life and add to the physical stress of their illness.

Symptoms of health anxiety can include:

• Worries about having or developing a serious health condition
• Fears about the consequences of poor health
• Extreme efforts to avoid exposure to germs and toxins
• Frequent doctor visits and seeking out several opinions
• Avoiding doctor visits for fear of a serious diagnosis
• Looking for comfort or reassurance from others that things are OK
• Spending a lot of time researching conditions and looking up symptoms
• Worrying that minor symptoms or body sensations are signs of a serious illness
• Feeling little or no reassurance from doctor visits or negative test results
• Repeatedly checking for symptoms

The obsession/compulsion cycle

People with OCD experience anxiety about certain things as part of a repetitive cycle. Health conditions and contamination are one type of content that obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors can focus on. Other common examples include obsessive counting, a fear of self-harm, and a fear of dishonesty or infidelity in relationships.

Health anxiety on its own usually comes from a sincere place of concern for one’s health. With OCD, these thoughts are intrusive or unwelcome. Anxiety and compulsions follow because these thoughts take up so much time and mental space. People with OCD may realize that their efforts only provide temporary relief, and that’s when many start to seek help. However, some might believe their compulsions can eventually stop the intrusive thoughts.

As mentioned earlier, the four parts of the obsession/compulsion cycle are:

• Obsession
• Anxiety
• Compulsion
• Temporary relief

What do treatments for health anxiety and OCD look like?

People with health anxiety and OCD may share similar worries, but the treatments for these conditions are very different. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective approach for calming health anxiety. It encourages people to gain insight by taking a step back, reflecting on their own thought process and checking the facts.

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is a type of CBT with some extra elements that help slow down and stop the cycle of obsession and compulsion. “Exposure” in ERP refers to experiences you choose that trigger your anxiety. You practice resisting your compulsions and develop resilience by observing what happens when you don’t engage. Exposures are hard, but you’ll begin with stimuli that are the least upsetting and build resilience as you work your way up.

Having the right support in place and finding care providers you trust are critical steps for good health and peace of mind. Both CBT and ERP treatments should be highly personalized to produce the best results. At Lightfully, we take a compassionate approach to helping people with anxiety and OCD heal. We get to know our clients on a personal level and support them in changing their relationships to their fears. We help them build up positive experiences and instill faith in themselves for a brighter future.

You can get back to living a full life without fear for your health. Have questions about treatment? Send us a message today.