Health Anxiety Psychologist Melbourne

Health anxiety (also known as illness anxiety disorder, or historically as hypochondria) is a condition characterised by excessive preoccupation with having or developing a serious illness. People with health anxiety typically misinterpret normal bodily sensations as signs of disease, and engage in reassurance-seeking or avoidance behaviours that temporarily reduce anxiety but ultimately maintain it.

Health anxiety exists on a spectrum from mild to severe, and is distinct from the normal worry most people experience about their health. It is classified in the DSM-5 as either illness anxiety disorder (primarily worry without physical symptoms) or somatic symptom disorder (with significant physical symptoms plus excessive health-related thoughts and behaviours).

• Illness anxiety disorder — excessive worry about having a serious illness, with minimal or no physical symptoms
• Somatic symptom disorder — disproportionate focus on physical symptoms accompanied by high health anxiety
• Health anxiety secondary to OCD — contamination or disease-related obsessions with compulsive reassurance-seeking
• Health anxiety following a medical diagnosis — excessive anxiety following a genuine health event

Health anxiety involves a characteristic pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours:

Cognitive symptoms:

• Persistent preoccupation with having or getting a serious illness
• Catastrophic interpretation of normal bodily sensations (e.g., a headache = brain tumour)
• Difficulty being reassured, even after normal test results
• Intrusive thoughts about illness and death

Behavioural symptoms:

• Frequent body checking — examining skin, feeling for lumps, monitoring pulse
• Repeated reassurance-seeking from doctors, Google, or loved ones
• Avoidance of medical information, hospitals, or anything illness-related
• Repeated GP visits or, conversely, avoidance of medical care due to fear of diagnosis

Emotional symptoms:

• Persistent anxiety, dread, or fear about health
• Temporary relief after reassurance, quickly followed by return of anxiety
• Distress that significantly impacts work, relationships, and quality of life
• Shame or embarrassment about health concerns

If health concerns occupy a significant portion of your day, drive repeated medical consultations, or are affecting your relationships and functioning, psychological treatment is highly effective.

Health anxiety is maintained by two key cycles. The first is the reassurance-seeking cycle: anxiety spikes → you check, Google, or visit your GP → anxiety briefly reduces → the reduction reinforces checking behaviour → anxiety returns stronger. The second is the hypervigilance cycle: focussing on the body → noticing more sensations → interpreting them as threatening → more anxiety → more focus. Effective treatment targets both cycles:

• Eliminating compulsive reassurance-seeking and body checking through Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
• Restructuring the catastrophic interpretations driving the anxiety
• Building tolerance of uncertainty about health outcomes
• Reducing hypervigilance and body focus

Meta-analyses consistently show that CBT is highly effective for health anxiety, with large effect sizes maintained at long-term follow-up.

Treatment for health anxiety at The Talk Shop is tailored to your individual presentation:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) — the gold-standard treatment for health anxiety. Targets the thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours maintaining the anxiety cycle, including cognitive restructuring and behavioural experiments.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) — systematic, graded exposure to feared health situations or sensations, combined with prevention of reassurance-seeking and checking behaviours.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — builds psychological flexibility and tolerance of uncertainty, particularly helpful for clients who have not responded to purely cognitive approaches.

Mindfulness-Based approaches — reduce body hypervigilance and break the focus-sensation-interpretation cycle.

✓ WorkCover, NDIS or TAC approved? YOU PAY NOTHING.

• WorkCover approved — $0 out of pocket, we bill directly
• NDIS plan-managed or self-managed — $0 out of pocket, we bill directly
• TAC claim approved — $0 out of pocket, we bill directly
• DVA — Gold Card holders are fully covered with no session cap (clinically justified). White Card holders covered for accepted conditions, plus all current/former ADF members can access fully-funded psychology for any mental-health condition under NLMHT. GP referral required.
• Medicare (Better Access) — up to 10 rebated sessions per calendar year with a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan
• Private health insurance — extras cover may apply
• Self-funded — sessions from $50 with our Provisional Psychologists

Hedman, E., et al. (2016). Treating severe health anxiety. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 45(3), 193–202.
Newby, J.M., et al. (2013). CBT versus relaxation training for health anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81(3), 467–478.