Hypnotherapy for Health Anxiety in Wolverhampton & West Midlands
What is Health Anxiety?
Health Anxiety is the newly adopted name for what used to be called “Hypochondria” and is characterised by an almost constant pre-occupation with the physical well-being of one’s own health – most frequently this will take the form of constant reviewing of how one feels.
This hyper-vigilance of “feedback” from the body, for example, heart palpitations, headaches, stomach murmurs and so on can become very obsessive.
People suffering Health Anxiety will almost certainly make regular visits to the local A&E when they experience one of their symptoms and will invariably be assured that “there is nothing wrong with them” by the medical staff there!
Despite the reassurances, however, sufferers will continue to believe that they genuinely have something wrong with them that the doctors are missing.
Additionally health anxiety sufferers will spend many hours screening the internet to try and find out as much as they can about what their bodily symptoms could possibly ‘mean’ to verify their idea that the medical profession have simply not understood the complexity of their problem.
Health Anxiety Symptoms
Because health anxiety is primarily focused on physical health it often involves symptoms that involve monitoring and checking which may, at times, become obsessive in nature.
Your symptoms may include:
- Preoccupation with bodily sensations: You may become fixated on minor bodily sensations or changes, such as heart palpitations, headaches, or stomach discomfort, and interpret them as signs of a serious illness.
- Checking for signs of illness: Health anxiety can cause you to constantly check your body for signs of illness, such as lumps, bumps, or discolorations.
- Seeking reassurance: You might seek reassurance from doctors, friends, or family members that you are not sick, but may still struggle to believe that you are not ill.
- Avoidance of situations or activities: Health anxiety can cause you to avoid situations or activities that you believe could trigger or exacerbate your symptoms, such as exercise, travel, or social events.
- Anxiety and depression: Health anxiety can be accompanied by feelings of depression, and can have a negative impact on the quality of your life.
- Excessive use of medical resources: You may visit doctors or emergency rooms frequently, undergo unnecessary medical tests, or take excessive amounts of medication.
- Inability to accept reassurance: Even if doctors tell you that you are healthy, you may struggle to accept this and may continue to believe you really are sick.
You may have some or all of these symptoms or you may have other symptoms that are not listed here.
Hypnotherapy for Health Anxiety
Hypnotherapy can be useful in helping people to locate and then use many of their own inner strengths and resources to combat the problems associated with Health Anxiety.
In this respect, hypnotherapy helps a person to ‘help themselves’ in very much the same way as other therapeutic approaches.
Taking anywhere between 6 and 10 sessions, hypnotherapy for Health Anxiety involves understanding how your earlier experiences, core beliefs and values have played a role in forming and reinforcing your problems.
Hypnosis itself is very relaxing and allows you to explore memories and experiences related to Health Anxiety that you might want to re-think in order to produce more positive responses and outcomes.
Free Initial Consultations
If you'd like to meet and discuss your particular problems with Joan here at the Wolverhampton Hypnotherapy Clinic in Wombourne then please get in touch.
These free consultations last about 50 minutes and are an opportunity to talk about your problems in a non-judgmental and confidential environment.
Joan has more than 12 years clinical experience and can almost certainly offer an effective solution using evidence-based hypnotherapy and psychotherapy.
About Joan
Joan has been a practicing Hypnotherapist since 2011 when she was awarded her diploma in evidence-based hypnotherapy from the International Association of Hypno-Analysts (IAH).
She is currently studying for her BSc. degree in counselling and psychology and has an Enhanced DBS certificate valid until 2027.
You can get in touch with her by e-mail:
Or call on: 07434 776504
Learn how to overcome Health Anxiety with CBT at Tranceform Psychology.
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