Health anxiety: signs, why checking makes it worse and what helps

Most people have wondered whether a headache that will not go away might be a brain tumour, or whether a racing heart means something is wrong with it. Worrying about your health now and then is normal (HSE, 2025). Health anxiety, once called hypochondria, is when you spend so much time worrying that you are ill, or going to become ill, that the worry starts to take over your life (NHS, 2023a).

The World Health Organization’s classification (ICD-11) also calls it “health anxiety disorder” and places it in the same group as obsessive-compulsive disorder. A persistent fear of having, or developing, a serious illness comes with repeated body checking, long hours searching for information about the feared illness, or seeking reassurance through repeated medical consultations, while some people do the opposite and avoid doctors altogether. Worry tied to a particular situation, such as waiting for test results, does not count; what matters is worry that persists or returns after an appropriate examination and explanation (WHO, 2024).

The American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual (DSM-5) split the old diagnosis of hypochondriasis in two. Constant worry about having or getting an illness with few or no physical symptoms is called illness anxiety disorder; distressing physical symptoms with excessive thoughts and worry about them are called somatic symptom disorder. Neither is faking. The APA stresses that people with somatic symptom disorder really do experience their symptoms rather than making them up (APA, n.d.), and Swedish researchers warn that dismissing the physical symptoms of people with hypochondriasis as imaginary may have serious consequences (Mataix-Cols et al., 2024).

How common it is depends heavily on the definition. A review of 55 studies found that 0.4% of the general population met the full diagnostic criteria for hypochondriasis, while broader health anxiety was reported in 2.1% to 13.1%, depending on the study. Among patients in general medical settings, 2.95% met the diagnostic criteria (Weck et al., 2014). In Australia’s national mental health survey, 5.7% had met the criteria for health anxiety at some point in their lives, and 3.4% at the time of the interview (Sunderland et al., 2013). It is more common in hospitals. When nearly 29,000 outpatients in five specialties at hospitals in England were screened with a questionnaire, 19.8%, about 1 in 5, had high levels of health anxiety, with the highest rate in neurology (24.7%). These were questionnaire scores, so not everyone would meet the criteria for a diagnosis (Tyrer et al., 2011).

Korea has no national survey of how common health anxiety is: the 2021 national mental health survey did not assess it (Rim et al., 2023). In health insurance statistics, 3,325 people were treated in 2025 with the health anxiety code (F45.2, which in ICD-10 also covers body dysmorphic disorder) as their main diagnosis (Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, 2026). That only counts people treated, and because people with health anxiety are much more likely to seek care for physical than for mental health reasons (WHO, 2024), more people may be living with it than this count shows. In Sweden, too, only about 4,000 cases were recorded in specialist care over two decades, which researchers take as a sign that it is underdiagnosed (Mataix-Cols et al., 2024).

This guide uses research to describe how health anxiety shows up in thoughts and habits, how it differs from generalised anxiety, panic, OCD and depression, why checking and searching symptoms online feed the worry, how common it is, and what you can try on your own and which treatments have evidence behind them. mind.io does not offer a health anxiety test. And having a lot of health worry does not mean a new symptom should simply be ignored: when to see a doctor is covered further down, under “When to see a doctor”.

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) describes it like this. You constantly worry about your health, often check your body for signs of illness such as lumps, tingling or pain, keep asking people for reassurance that you are not ill, and worry that a doctor or a test may have missed something. You may look at health information on the internet or in the media again and again, or do the opposite and avoid anything to do with serious illness, such as medical TV programmes, and you may act as if you were ill, for example by avoiding physical activity (NHS, 2023a).

Common bodily sensations are often read as signs of serious illness. ICD-11 gives the example of worrying that a tension headache means a brain tumour (WHO, 2024). Anxiety itself can cause headaches or a racing heartbeat, which can then be mistaken for signs of illness (NHS, 2023a). The worry can start or grow when someone you know falls ill, when you read or hear about an illness, or at times of stress. Many people can see that their worry is excessive, but some cannot (WHO, 2024).

Checking and avoiding can alternate in the same person. In an Australian study that interviewed 118 patients seeking treatment for health anxiety, 61% of those diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder swung between seeking and avoiding medical care, while 25% mostly sought care and 14% mostly avoided it. The difference between illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder came down mainly to severity (Newby et al., 2017). A later study questioned how useful it is to separate the two by whether physical symptoms are present (Kikas et al., 2026). In other words, the label matters less than which pattern is taking over your life.

Health anxiety usually begins in early to middle adulthood and is thought to be rare in children and teenagers (WHO, 2024). If a child worries about their health a lot, a parent or carer can start by taking them to a paediatrician.

Health anxiety is often long-lasting and comes and goes (WHO, 2024). In studies that followed its course, 30% to 50% of people recovered (olde Hartman et al., 2009). In a Danish study that followed primary care patients for two years, people with severe health anxiety used about 41% to 78% more health care each year (Fink et al., 2010). It costs time and money as well as peace of mind. Fortunately, there are treatments with evidence behind them, described below.

Health worry is less a yes-or-no matter than something everyone has to some degree. A study of 501 healthy working adults also found that health anxiety is better described as a continuum (Ferguson, 2009). People who already have an illness, or who are at high risk of one because of their genes or a recent exposure to an infection, commonly worry about it, so ICD-11 asks for a higher threshold before diagnosing health anxiety in these cases (WHO, 2024). Worry with a real basis, such as fear of a cancer coming back after treatment, should not be labelled health anxiety straight away.

People with generalised anxiety disorder may also worry about their health, but their worries spread to work, money, family and more. In health anxiety the worry stays on serious illness (WHO, 2024). A panic attack can bring the fear of a heart attack, but in panic disorder the focus is on attacks coming back and what the attack symptoms mean, and people are less likely to worry about other bodily symptoms or to keep checking (WHO, 2024). Worry about many things is covered in anxiety symptoms, and panic in panic attacks: what to do.

ICD-11 groups health anxiety with obsessive-compulsive disorder because both involve thoughts that will not go away and the repetitive behaviours that follow them. OCD can include health-related obsessions, but they tend to be about contamination, and other obsessions unrelated to health are usually present too (WHO, 2024). How checking and reassurance seeking work in OCD is covered in the OCD guide.

Worry about the body can also grow during depression, but then it sits alongside other thoughts, such as guilt or a sense that nothing matters, and other depressive symptoms. Health worries are common in later life and can be normal age-related concerns, but new ones that are excessive and disrupt daily life may point to depression rather than health anxiety (WHO, 2024). Depression is also the condition that most often comes with health anxiety (NHS Education for Scotland, 2025), so it is worth reading depression symptoms too. Separately, ICD-11 classifies distress about the physical symptoms themselves, with visits to doctors to relieve them, as “bodily distress disorder”. In health anxiety the fear that a symptom means a serious disease is central, and the point of seeing a doctor is to be told it is not that disease (WHO, 2024).

Cognitive behavioural therapy explains how health anxiety keeps itself going (Warwick & Salkovskis, 1990). Reading a common bodily sensation as a sign of serious illness makes you anxious, and anxiety makes you pay closer attention to your body. Checking or seeking reassurance brings relief, but the relief does not last, so you seek it again and the cycle of anxiety becomes stronger (NHS Education for Scotland, 2025). A review of the research found that people with high health anxiety said they felt bodily sensations more intensely, but they were not actually better at detecting changes in their bodies (Marcus et al., 2007).

An experiment suggests that checking can make the worry grow: 60 people were split at random, and one group was asked to carry out health-related checking and precautions on purpose every day for a week. Compared with the group that went about as usual, their health anxiety and beliefs about illness increased more. General anxiety did not differ between the groups (Olatunji et al., 2011). In another experiment, 27 patients with health anxiety were exposed to health-related triggers that mattered to them. Anxiety fell quickly in those who then checked, but it also fell gradually in those who did not (Abramowitz & Moore, 2007). In other words, anxiety settles in the end even without checking.

One more test may seem like the way to peace of mind, but a review of randomised trials that compared testing with no testing for symptoms with a low chance of serious disease found that the tests did little to reduce worry about illness (Rolfe & Burton, 2013). In an experiment where patients listened to a recorded doctor’s report that ruled out most medical explanations, those with unexplained symptoms remembered a higher chance of illness than they had been told (Rief et al., 2006). Neither study looked only at people diagnosed with health anxiety, but both show why a normal result alone often fails to settle the worry.

Searching symptoms online belongs to the same cycle. Looking up symptoms is common and often useful, but some people who are very worried about their health search over and over only to become more frightened, which researchers call “cyberchondria” (Starcevic & Berle, 2013). A study of search logs found that searches for common, usually harmless symptoms could escalate into reading about rare, serious conditions (White & Horvitz, 2009). Pooled studies show that the higher someone’s health anxiety, the more health information they look for online (r = 0.34), and the more strongly it goes with searches that leave them more distressed (r = 0.62) (McMullan et al., 2019). Most of these were one-off surveys, so they cannot show that searching causes health anxiety. Researchers see searching as a “safety behaviour”, like body checking or reassurance seeking, that is hard to stop because it sometimes calms you and sometimes alarms you (Schenkel et al., 2021).

Cyberchondria is not a diagnosis. ICD-11 simply lists spending excessive time on health websites as one feature of health anxiety (WHO, 2024), and because most studies are one-off online surveys, little is known yet about how common it is or how it develops (Vismara et al., 2020). Still, when 731 online participants were asked, those with low health anxiety remembered feeling relieved after searching, while those with high health anxiety remembered feeling worse (Doherty-Torstrick et al., 2016). When you are already very worried, searching is more likely to feed the anxiety than to calm it.

The NHS suggests starting like this. Note how often you check your body, ask people for reassurance or look at health information, and try to cut down gradually over a week. Write your health worries in one column and more balanced thoughts in the next. When the urge to check comes, distract yourself, for example by going for a walk or calling a friend, and gradually start doing the sports or social activities you have been avoiding because of your health worries (NHS, 2023a).

These steps follow the same principles as the core parts of treatments with evidence behind them: cutting down on checking, looking at thoughts again and facing what you have avoided (Lai et al., 2026). No study has tested this list itself, though, so take it as official guidance built on methods used in therapy. The key is to cut down gradually rather than stop everything at once. What you cut down is repeated checking of worries that have already been checked; a new symptom, or one that has changed, still needs a doctor. Breathing and relaxation exercises are covered in how to relieve stress.

This does not mean you must never search. But when you are very worried, searching is more likely to raise anxiety than to calm it (Doherty-Torstrick et al., 2016), so start by noting how often you search and cutting down little by little (NHS, 2023a). Rather than going to a different clinic each time a symptom appears, the advice is to have the tests that are needed at the start and then see one or two doctors you trust at regular, planned intervals (National Mental Health Information Portal, 2020; APA, n.d.). Researchers have advised doctors to check that patients understood their explanation by asking them to sum it up (Rief et al., 2006); you can do your part by writing down the conclusion during the appointment or checking that you understood it correctly.

Family members who answer “You’re fine, it’s nothing” again and again do so out of love, but because reassurance only brings brief relief, the same question tends to come back, and this can strain family relationships (NHS Education for Scotland, 2025). Korea’s national mental health portal advises family members to keep showing sympathy for the person’s distress while responding to talk about symptoms in a low-key way, the same way each time (National Mental Health Information Portal, 2020). Rather than suddenly refusing to answer, it is better to agree on a plan to cut down together with the person, and with a therapist if possible.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has the most evidence. In a meta-analysis of 19 randomised controlled trials, the effect was moderate to large (g = 0.79, or 0.62 after adjusting for publication bias) and largely held 12 to 18 months after treatment. Of those treated, 66% responded and 48% reached remission, meaning their symptoms had largely gone. The effect on quality of life was limited, though (Axelsson & Hedman-Lagerlöf, 2019). Another analysis found smaller effects when CBT was compared with usual care rather than a waiting list (Olatunji et al., 2014).

A 2026 analysis comparing 35 randomised trials (3,263 people) found that besides CBT, exposure therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, metacognitive therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and behavioural stress management all worked better than a waiting list. Cognitive bias modification, imagery therapy and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy showed no clear effect. Practising facing anxiety while resisting the urge to check (exposure and response prevention), learning to see thoughts differently (cognitive restructuring) and mindfulness were linked to better results (Lai et al., 2026).

In a trial that randomly assigned 444 outpatients at hospitals in England, those who had 5 to 10 sessions of CBT adapted for health anxiety improved more than those who had usual care alone, and the difference was still there 8 years later. Results were better when trained nurses delivered it than with other therapists. Still, after one year 13.9% had health anxiety down to normal levels, against 7.3% with usual care, so the effect was not huge (Tyrer et al., 2014, 2017, 2021). In a Swedish trial that randomly assigned 204 people, 12 weeks of therapist-guided internet CBT was no worse than face-to-face CBT, and therapists spent 10 minutes per patient per week, far less than the 45.6 minutes for face-to-face therapy (Axelsson et al., 2020). People who had internet CBT also cut down on excessive symptom searching much more than a control group (Newby & McElroy, 2020). Such programmes are not available everywhere, and none tested in Korean could be found.

In a study of 74 people, those who did mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (an 8-week group programme) had a greater fall in health anxiety than those with usual services, and it lasted a year (McManus et al., 2012). You might worry that paying attention to bodily sensations would make anxiety worse, but interviews with 9 participants suggested it did not (Williams et al., 2011). Medicines have been studied too. SSRI antidepressants did better than placebo in small randomised trials, though in one trial the difference was not significant in every analysis (Greeven et al., 2007; Fallon et al., 2008), and the studies are few. Talk to the doctor who prescribes before starting or stopping any medicine. The UK has no national clinical guideline for treating health anxiety yet, and both CBT and SSRIs are summarised as moderately effective (NHS Education for Scotland, 2025).

Having a lot of health worry does not mean you should ignore new symptoms. See a doctor about any symptom that is not normal for you (NHS, 2025). If sudden chest pain does not go away, spreads to your arm, neck, jaw or back, or comes with sweating, nausea, light-headedness or shortness of breath, do not assume it is anxiety: call your local emergency number at once (119 in Korea) (NHS, 2023b). Health anxiety is not a reason to skip physical checks either: Korea’s national mental health portal says tests for a possible physical cause come first (National Mental Health Information Portal, 2020). When the same symptom that has already been checked keeps coming back, it usually helps more to agree with your doctor on how to keep an eye on it than to have more tests. But if a symptom is different from before or worse, get it checked again.

Talk to a professional if the worry stops you from living a normal life or self-help is not working (NHS, 2023a). If your mood has also been low for more than two weeks, depression needs looking at too. Korea’s national mental health portal advises keeping up care for the body alongside mental health treatment rather than choosing one (National Mental Health Information Portal, 2020). If you live outside Korea, start with a family doctor or your local mental health services, and see the crisis lines just below. In Korea, you can get help from a psychiatrist or your city, county or district mental health welfare centre, and the mental health crisis line 1577-0199 (24 hours) connects you to a nearby centre (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2025). The conditions for the 2026 counselling voucher are in depression: what helps. mind.io does not offer a health anxiety test, and neither the anxiety check-in (GAD-7) nor the depression check-in (PHQ-9) diagnoses health anxiety. Self-checks are not a diagnosis.

In a Swedish study that followed over 4,000 people diagnosed with health anxiety in specialist care, 0.7% died by suicide, compared with 0.1% of a comparison group, but the difference was no longer clear once depression and anxiety were taken into account (Mataix-Cols et al., 2024). So if your health worries come with low mood or a wish to disappear, be sure to talk about that too. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, please do not carry them alone. Reach out to a crisis line right away: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or find a line at findahelpline.com elsewhere. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

Q. Are health anxiety and illness anxiety disorder the same thing? A. They describe much the same condition, but the systems divide it differently. ICD-11 uses one diagnosis, hypochondriasis (health anxiety disorder) (WHO, 2024), while DSM-5 splits it into illness anxiety disorder, when there are few or no physical symptoms, and somatic symptom disorder, when distressing physical symptoms are present (APA, n.d.).

Q. My test results were normal but I am worried again. Should I have more tests? A. For symptoms with a low chance of serious disease, trials comparing testing with no testing found that tests did little to reduce worry about illness (Rolfe & Burton, 2013). Try agreeing a plan with a doctor you trust for how to keep an eye on things. But get any new symptom, or one that is different or worse than before, checked again.

Q. Do I have to stop searching symptoms altogether? A. No. Looking up symptoms is common and often useful (Starcevic & Berle, 2013). But when you are very worried, note how often you search and cut down little by little (NHS, 2023a).

Q. A family member keeps asking me if they are all right. How should I answer? A. Answering the same question again and again brings only brief relief, so the question tends to come back (NHS Education for Scotland, 2025). Show that you understand how they feel, respond to talk about symptoms calmly and consistently, and make a plan together to cut down (National Mental Health Information Portal, 2020).

Q. Does mind.io have a health anxiety test? A. mind.io does not offer a health anxiety test. Research uses questionnaires that measure health anxiety, but we could not confirm that they may be used on a website, and their cut-offs vary between studies. A diagnosis is made in an interview with a professional. The anxiety check-in (GAD-7) does not measure health anxiety, but it lets you look at your anxiety in general over the past two weeks.

Q. It is so hard that I have thoughts of harming myself. A. Please do not carry this alone. Reach out to a crisis line right away: call or text 988 in the US and Canada, call Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, or find a line at findahelpline.com elsewhere. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services.

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