Is your mind dominated by incessant worries about your health? Do the thoughts of a disease hiding inside you unsettle you all day long? No need to be anxious. This may seem relentless but there is hope for compulsive obsessive disorder health anxiety sufferers.
In this blog post, we are going to talk about effective ways on how one can overcome their excessive ideas and deeds. It will discuss CBT, ACT and ERP therapies offered by mental health counselors to deal with intrusive thinking patterns and increasing tolerance for uncertainty. Let’s get ready to take our lives back and move towards living a healthier lifestyle.
Understanding OCD and Health Anxiety
Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (ODD) is a mental disorder involving repetitive, uncertainties, stressful thoughts termed obsessions that lead to particular activities or rituals known as compulsions aimed at alleviating anxiety. Mentioned below are some important facts about OCD:
- Obsessions:
- Intrusive, unwanted thoughts, uncertainty, impulses which lead to significant anxiety.
- Some of the themes involved in OCD include: fear of violence towards oneself or others, obsessions with symmetry/order and religious doubt.
- Compulsions:
- These activities are repetitive behaviors or mental acts done in order to relieve the anxiety associated with the obsessions.
- Common compulsions regarding health include excessive hand washing, cleaning, and seeking reassurance from doctors.
- Another ritual might entail repeating mantras, among other protective behaviors.
- The Cycle Of Anxiety:
Anxiety occurs when an individual has obsessions; this results in performing compulsions, leading to temporary relief through reduced anxiety, thus completing the cycle of OCD disorder.
Understanding Health Anxiety
Health-based anxieties refer to irrational worries about severe medical problems even though there is no objective evidence supporting such concerns. The following are the main features of health anxiety:
- Symptoms:
- People with health anxiety imagined symptoms, or they wrongly interpret minor physical sensations as indicators of serious illnesses.
- They may do excessive self-checking for bodily illness signs or ask doctors to ascertain their wellness status.
- Classification:
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) does not consider health anxiety a specific disorder.
However, it can fall under these categories;
- Illness Anxiety Disorder: Absence of severe physical symptoms or only mild ones
- Somatic Symptom Disorder: The presence of physical symptoms accompanied by distress
- Severity and Functionality:
- Though occasional thoughts about one’s well-being are normal, health anxiety becomes concerning when it interferes much with day-to-day living.
- Health anxieties were heightened greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic as global concerns about people’s well-being heightened.
People suffering from health anxieties can avail of OCD treatment in New York from reputed therapists who can provide different therapies.
Strategies for Overcoming OCD Health Anxiety
Importance of Professional Assistance
It is important that a professional New York psychotherapist is sought after for dealing with both OCD and health anxiety. Here is why you must seek expert assistance if you are suffering from this condition;
- Qualified Psychotherapists in NYC: You can consult a mental health expert, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist who specializes in anxiety disorders.
- Customized Treatment: Professionals have the ability to individualize interventions to suit your requirements, hence ensuring efficacy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a type of psychotherapy that supports people to identify their unhealthy habits of thinking, uncertainty, feeling, and behaving.
- Identify Negative Thoughts:
- Detect distorted thoughts about health anxiety, like catastrophizing and overestimating risks.
- Behavioral Experiments:
- Exposure to germs by not washing hands after touching a doorknob and eating.
- Coping Skills:
- A person can try practicing relaxation techniques like deep breaths and grounding exercises.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Therapy
These are some of the ways ERP works in both OCD and illness anxiety disorder.
- Gradual Exposure:
- This means identifying things that make you anxious, e.g., body sensations and medical information concerning them; start with the least distressing scenarios, uncertainties, moving on slowly but surely.
- Resist Compulsions:
- Avoid doing rituals such as self-checking for symptoms and seeking confirmations constantly.
- Breaking the cycle of anxiety weakens connections between triggers and fear.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy:
- Cognitive Defusion:
- Be in the present moment without judgment, observing your thoughts, uncertainties and anxieties.
- ACT brings awareness to you about how to defuse yourself from thinking that your feelings represent something real.
- Acceptance:
- Instead of fighting against or suppressing your fears, identify that you feel anxious.
- This does not mean you have to enjoy it; simply acknowledge it and move on.
- Accepting it diminishes its power over you.
- Values-driven Living:
- Determine what truly matters most in life (e.g., time spent with loved ones versus hobbies).
- Live accordingly despite having anxiety. This gives a sense of purpose to your life and allows you to cope with OCD even in the most difficult times.
FAQs: Overcoming OCD Health Anxiety
Q: What differentiates normal concerns about health from OCD health anxiety?
Normal concerns are often fleeting and would not hugely interfere with one’s daily activities, while OCD-related concerns encompass persistent thoughts that are intrusive, leading to excessive checking or reassurance-seeking compulsions, which cause significant distress among individuals having this disorder, hence disrupting their lives considerably.
Q: Can my health anxiety focus on a specific illness?
A: It does not matter whether it is real or not, as OCD can latch onto any illness. Therefore, regardless of the specific fear or uncertainty, therapy can support you develop coping mechanisms.
Q: Can OCD health anxiety cause me to fall ill more frequently?
No, this does not mean that once someone has OCD, they will become physically sick. Nevertheless, stress and anxiety may suppress your immune system thereby making it easier for you to get common colds or minor illnesses.
Conclusion
In conclusion, CBT tools, mindfulness training, and professional help can aid in coping with health anxiety related to OCD. Keep in mind that recovery is a process, not an endpoint.
Finding an OCD therapist in New York may be essential in dealing with mental health challenges holistically in order to attain sustainable solutions. Simply reach out to psychotherapist Gita Sawhenhy at her practice GS Mental Health & Wellness based in Manhattan NY.
