The hypochondria is a mental disorder which is characterized by an exaggerated fear of suffering from a serious illness. Hypochondriacs actually believe that their health may be in danger and they live obsessed with it despite having gone to the doctor and having had enough tests to confirm that they are healthy. The emotional tension that these people experience when believing that they are sick is so great that it causes them a lot of suffering and discomfort, which ultimately manifests itself in the body since hypochondriac people can experience the symptoms of a disease that they believe they may be suffering from. and they really have nothing.
So if you know a person with this disease or you are one of them and you would like to stop being such a hypochondriac, it is because hypochondria is probably already causing you many problems in different areas of your life or simply in your emotional well-being. In this Psychology-Online article we are going to give you a series of tips that will be very useful so that you know how to stop being such a hypochondriac.
Characteristics of a hypochondriac person
Before giving you some tips to know how to stop being such a hypochondriac, we are going to expand a little more on the topic of hypochondria and mention some characteristics that people with this condition generally have. Between the main characteristics of hypochondriac people the following are found:
- Constant fear or worry of suffering from a serious illness
- Excessive attention to the sensations of one’s own body
- Anxiety
- After having been with a sick person, seen a movie, read an article about an illness, etc. The person believes they are experiencing the same or similar symptoms.
- The topics of conversation are almost always focused on illnesses and the fear generated by thinking that they could be sick.
- Experiencing physical discomfort of all kinds, such as: muscle pain, headaches, increased heart rate, etc.
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Causes of hypochondria
How does it originate? Below we are going to mention the main causes why a person can suffer from this disease.
- Loss of a loved one due to a serious illness. People who have lost a loved one because they had a serious illness, so consciously or even unconsciously, they begin to have an excessive fear of suffering from the same illness.
- Overprotection. Having had overprotective parents who worried excessively about their health. For example, parents who, at the first symptom, even if it was not very important, took their child to the doctor, so the child spent his or her time visiting the doctor constantly.
- Traumatic experiences related to death. Having suffered from an extremely serious illness or a close person having suffered from it.
- Associate and confuse symptoms with a serious illness. Thinking that the symptoms you are experiencing are related to a serious illness. For example, feeling very anxious, feeling dizzy, increased heart rate, sweating, etc. and think that it could be a heart attack.
- Be highly suggestible. People who inform themselves about serious illnesses and by the mere fact of doing so begin to have an attitude of hypervigilance of their own body.
- Draw attention. There are people who develop this disease consciously or unconsciously in order to attract the attention of others, so that they are more aware of them, have a topic of conversation, seek company, etc.
5 practical tips to stop being a hypochondriac
Below we will give you some basic tips so that you can stop being such a hypochondriac and therefore feel calmer and more secure with yourself.
- Stop looking for answers on the internet. It is necessary that you avoid diagnosing yourself based on the information you find on Google. Remember that much of the information that appears on the internet is not validated by experts and even if it were, each case is different so you have to physically go to a professional to guide you better and offer you a treatment adapted to your needs. in case you require it.
- Go to psychological therapy. If you feel that on your own you have not been able to stop being such a hypochondriac, it is necessary that you go to a professional who will help you so that you can stop being such and increase your emotional well-being. The goal of therapy is to teach the person strategies so that they learn to manage their fear and face their problem. It is about the person identifying which are their real symptoms and those that are fictitious or caused by the same illness. You are also taught some relaxation and desensitization techniques. Sometimes the therapy can be combined with the use of drugs, among the most common are antidepressants.
- Stop talking so much about illnesses. Remember that the more you repeat something, the more you reinforce it. So if your daily topics are focused mainly on diseases, all you do is continually remind yourself that you may suffer from one of them. So it is necessary to start changing those topics of conversation that can be harmful.
- Modify your thoughts. Remember that the way we think is directly related to the way we feel. So if we take care of the quality of our thoughts and modify them with more positive ones, we will feel better about ourselves in every way.
- Bring your mind to the present moment. Start doing things that require all or almost all of your attention, distract yourself by doing things you like, working, etc. Let your mind focus on what you are doing moment by moment, teach it to be present in everything you do and stop wandering and thinking about the possible diseases you could have. A tool that can be very useful to achieve this is mindfulness or meditation.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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