CBT for Health Anxiety
Health anxiety can make it difficult to stop worrying about your health, even when you've been reassured that there is nothing seriously wrong.
You may find yourself constantly monitoring your body, searching for symptoms online, checking for changes or repeatedly asking others for reassurance. Sometimes, normal physical sensations can feel frightening and lead to fears that something serious has been missed.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help you understand the cycle of health anxiety and develop different ways of responding to uncertainty and physical sensations.
What can health anxiety look like?
Health anxiety isn't simply being concerned about your health. It can become a persistent cycle of worry, checking and reassurance that starts to interfere with everyday life.
🧠 Constant health worries
You may spend a lot of time thinking about the possibility of having an illness or developing a serious health condition.
🔍 Checking your body
You might repeatedly check your skin, pulse, breathing, body sensations or other physical changes for signs that something is wrong.
📱 Searching for symptoms
Looking up symptoms online can feel like a way to find reassurance, but the information you find can sometimes increase your anxiety.
💬 Seeking reassurance
You may repeatedly ask family, friends, doctors or other professionals whether you're okay.
🚫 Avoiding situations
Health concerns may lead you to avoid exercise, medical information, certain places or activities because you're worried they could cause harm.
🔄 Repeated appointments or tests
You may find yourself seeking repeated medical reassurance even after previous checks have provided reassurance.
Understanding the health anxiety cycle
Health anxiety can create a cycle where normal sensations or uncertainties become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Physical sensation → Worry about what it means → Checking or reassurance → Temporary relief → Increased attention to symptoms → More worry
For example, you might notice your heart beating faster. You become concerned that it could indicate a serious problem, so you check your pulse or search online for an explanation. You may feel reassured temporarily, but later notice another sensation and begin worrying again.
CBT can help you understand this cycle and explore different ways of responding to health-related thoughts and uncertainty.
How can CBT help with health anxiety?
CBT focuses on the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours. Therapy may help you:
1. Recognise patterns of health anxiety
Understand the situations and thoughts that trigger your worries.
2. Explore how you interpret physical sensations
Consider whether anxiety itself may be contributing to some of the sensations you're experiencing.
3. Reduce checking and reassurance-seeking
Gradually change behaviours that may be keeping the cycle going.
4. Become more comfortable with uncertainty
Develop ways of responding to health worries without needing constant reassurance.
The aim isn't to ignore genuine health concerns. If you experience new, persistent or concerning physical symptoms, it's important to seek appropriate medical advice. CBT focuses on the anxiety and behaviours that can continue even when appropriate medical assessment has taken place.
What happens in CBT for health anxiety?
Your therapist will work with you to understand your particular experience of health anxiety and identify the patterns that may be maintaining it.
Together, you might explore:
-
What triggers your health worries
-
The thoughts and predictions that follow
-
How you respond to physical sensations
-
Checking, researching and reassurance-seeking
-
Avoidance and other safety behaviours
-
How these responses affect your anxiety over time
You may then practise alternative ways of responding between sessions.
CBT is collaborative and practical, with the pace of therapy tailored to your individual circumstances.
Online CBT with GrowCBT
GrowCBT provides online CBT sessions via secure video appointments, allowing you to access therapy from your own home.
We work with adults across the UK, including clients in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, London and other areas.
You can find out more about our CBT therapy in Bristol, Birmingham or London.
If you are unsure whether CBT is right for you, you can arrange a free 15-minute consultation to discuss what you are looking for and whether we may be able to help.
Related CBT services
Anxiety can overlap with a number of other difficulties. You may also find our pages about CBT for panic attacks, CBT for anxiety, CBT for stress and burnout, CBT for OCD, CBT for Depression and CBT for low self-esteem useful.
You can also find out more about Men's CBT and Women's CBT.
Start with a conversation
If anxiety is affecting your everyday life and you would like to explore whether CBT could help, get in touch with GrowCBT.