Hypochondriasis
Hypochondriasis is the anxiety one has about their own health, especially in regards to a fear that they have a serious disease. It is a mental health issue in which the patient worries that they may be sick from the smallest symptom. In many cases, it is debilitating for the patient as it starts to affect their everyday lives out of their anxiousness of becoming ill.
This disorder primarily is found in 4 to 6% of the population and is found mainly in females. There is no one reason for the cause of hypochondria, but it can stem from many situations. It is found in patients who have had experienced a traumatic event or an illness in their past, usually when they were younger as hypochondriasis resonates commonly in young adulthood. Likewise, someone may deliberately diagnose themselves with hypochondria to gain attention or love from family members or friends. They fake the illness to gain financial aid, to avoid their responsibilities (such as work or legal related), or to be prescribed drugs. Gaining these advantages is called malingering, which is not the same as hypochondriasis. Those diagnosed with hypochondriasis believe that the illness they have is actually real while with malingering, the patient knows their illness is fake. Those who do already have a health disorder may worry that the problem that they already have is getting worse and it is not improving. Furthermore, hypochondria can be the result of major stress, childhood abuse (physically and emotionally), or another mental disorder like, “depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or a psychotic disorder.” (CLEVELAND CLINIC SOURCE)
There is many symptoms which are included when someone is diagnosed with hypochondria. With this disorder, many of the symptoms originate from the imagination of the patient, so many of the symptoms are not real. However, there is common symptoms that are found in those diagnosed with hypochondria. One of these symptoms is the persistent fear of having a life-threatening medical condition. As a common effect, the person may believe that the smallest problems such as a headache, may be caused by an illness that is imagined. Even after receiving negative results from doctors, many still do not believe them, and it can be rather detrimental towards the person's health. This then increases their level of anxiety, which is another natural symptom. Consequently, it panics the patient and causes them to stress over their own health, so the person diagnosed with hypochondria may also experience an excessive behavior over their image. They may always be watching over their health more than a normal person may, and they can also show an avoidance of their doctors’ or of hospitals. This fear may be from the responses of the doctors who say they do not have an illness. The patient may also experience delusions as well as psychosis. They believe something that is contradictory to what is actually true, and from this, they can experience psychosis which is “a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality” (PSYCHOSIS ANNOTATION). The patient may become overwhelmed from the symptoms and issues that are caused by hypochondriasis.
Hypochondriasis can be recognized by a person's actions. The patient may book an excessive amount of appointments or quit attending their appointments. They may seek help from a numerous amount of doctors, asking for more tests, even after receiving negative responses. In like manner, the patient will search for other opinions if they feel that they can not trust their doctors. They may also take matters into their own hands and seek help from untested and quite possibly dangerous sources of treatment to satiate their paranoia. Also related, they may not be able to stop talking about their health to those around them such as friends and family. The person may do this to see another person's opinions or reassurance that they are not actually sick when they still worry that they are. To an outsider, they may see this patient as a person who is overly obsessed with their health and their physical appearances. The outsider may think that the person is selfless as they are only thinking about themselves and what people think of them. With the many symptoms, hypochondriasis is easily recognized but can also as easily be put aside as insanity.
There are possible treatments to help the patient who is diagnosed with this disorder. The patient should seek help from a professional to get treated as hypochondriasis is similar to other related disorders. The patient can take antidepressants and can also be prescribed “serotonin reuptake inhibitors like fluoxetine or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors” (HARVARD SOURCE), medicines generally given to those suffering from OCD. This can help as experts have found that as the disorders are similar, the same prescription can help. Studies have also shown that going to therapy can also help, as going into cognitive, cognitive behavior, or behavior therapies can significantly help minimize the stress and illness. The therapists can help the patients focus more on their diagnosis and guide them through any other issues.
The patient can also use psychotherapy. If the patient has depression or anxiety they can be prescribed the necessary medication with a beneficial prognosis that will help their health. In some cases, the symptoms may be temporary but there are other cases where the symptoms may become more permanent and can cause other mental disorders. By giving a simple prognosis, doctors can more effectively treat a patient through the prescription of appropriate medicines. There are some cases where the person who has hypochondriasis does not want to go see a professional because they refuse to believe that their symptoms are simply figments of their imaginations. But receiving early treatment can greatly help the patient improve their situation.
If a person is diagnosed with hypochondriasis, they should make sure to function normally as they would on a daily basis. This forces them to follow a daily routine and likely ensures that they will not fall into a state of psychosis. If the patient does go see a professional, they should try to limit their usage of medical services outside of what their doctor recommends. Seeing their primary doctor instead of several different doctors helps reduce the cost as well as it provides a comfortable and similar experience for the patient, with a doctor that they can trust.
Although hypochondriasis is not a life-threatening disorder, it can lead to suicidal thoughts and bouts of depression or anxiety. It is best to treat hypochondria in a comfortable manner so that the patient can ease through a situation that appears real to them. For those diagnosed with hypochondriasis, they truly believe that the symptoms they have are life-threatening and that they have a disease or problem. This should not be taken lightly, but it should be treated to accordingly, as to not lead to a worsened situation. ADD ENDING
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