Understanding And Coping With Illness Anxiety

This book offers comfort and psychoeducation to readers as well as psychological explanation of concepts to mental health and medical professionals. The importance of understanding how disease, illness, and health affect our emotional and mental wellbeing cannot be understated. The book is divided into four sections: a description of illness anxiety and its diagnostic criteria; coping strategies for managing illness-related anxiety; a section describing how patients heal from Illness Anxiety Disorder; and a section containing practical exercises, meditations, and activities. This book is a relevant resource that will highlight an underrepresented area of psychological literature.

Social anxiety disorder is persistent fear of (or anxiety about) one or more social situations that is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the situation and can be severely detrimental to quality of life. Only a minority of people with social anxiety disorder receive help. Effective treatments do exist and this book aims to increase identification and assessment to encourage more people to access interventions. Covers adults, children and young people and compares the effects of pharmacological and psychological interventions. Commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The CD-ROM contains all of the evidence on which the recommendations are based, presented as profile tables (that analyse quality of data) and forest plots (plus, info on using/interpreting forest plots). This material is not available in print anywhere else.

Sudden, severe ill health comes as a shock and presents several challenges, most notably, loss of confidence. Suddenly people are afraid to take exercise, have sex or even go to the shops. Their entire self-image takes a battering, and this roller-coaster of uncertainty often leads to anxiety and depression. This book looks at the learning curve involved in sudden and chronic illness, and explores key ways to build psychological resilience during this time of challenge. Whether it concerns cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or a mental health condition, it explores the common psychological issues that arise when someones usual health and routine are disrupted, and discusses the impact of illness on relationships and family. Drawing on CBT techniques, it offers practical self-help strategies to help deal with peoples changed expectations of themselves, and with the related lifestyle changes. Topics include anxiety and depression; insomnia; discomfort and pain; working with health professionals; dealing with the side effects of medication; relaxation; getting support.

Discover essential skills to liberate yourself from persistent anxiety about your health. Are you constantly worrying about your health, or the health of a loved one? Do you frequently check yourself for lumps, bumps, tingling, or pain? Do you find yourself endlessly looking up symptoms on the internet? Perhaps you find yourself asking others for reassurance or validation that you’re okay, obsessing over health scares in the media, or monitoring your blood pressure on an hourly basis? No matter how your health anxiety manifests, it can be a crippling psychological burden. Endlessly ruminating about illness and death can affect all aspects of life—at home, work, school, as well as the doctor’s office. And if you’re obsessing over the health of a loved one, that can put tremendous pressure on the relationship. In Freedom from Health Anxiety, nationally recognized anxiety expert Karen Lynn Cassiday teaches you skills to conquer health anxiety, once and for all. You’ll learn to switch from focusing on worst-case scenarios to appreciating the joy of the present moment—regardless of health status. Using a blend of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), positive psychology, and the author’s “learned inhibition” model, you’ll finally acquire the tools you need to take charge of your fear and break the cycle of stressing over your—or your loved one’s—well-being. You’ll also learn effective methods for tolerating health uncertainty, getting in touch with your body’s cues, and rediscovering the pleasure of the present. It’s time to find freedom from the obsessive fears that stand between you and true happiness. If you’re ready to trade endless hours of online self-diagnosis (Goodbye, Dr. Google!) for a life filled with a genuine appreciation for each moment, this book will show you the way.

In the recently updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the diagnostic concept of hypochondriasis was eliminated and replaced by somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder. Hypochondriasis and Health Anxiety: A Guide for Clinicians, edited by Vladan Starcevic and Russell Noyes and written by prominent clinicians and researchers in the field, addresses current issues in recognizing, understanding, and treating hypochondriasis. Using a pragmatic approach, it offers a wealth of clinically useful information. The book also provides a critical review of the underlying conceptual and treatment issues, addressing varying perspectives and synthesizing the current research. Specific topics the text covers include: clinical manifestations, diagnostic and conceptual issues, classification, relationships with other disorders, assessment, epidemiology, economic aspects, course, outcome and treatment. Additionally, the book discusses patient-physician relationship in the context of hypochondriasis and health anxiety and presents cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal and psychodynamic models and treatments. The authors also address the neurobiological underpinnings of hypochondriasis and health anxiety and pharmacological treatment approaches. Based on the extensive clinical experience of its authors, there are numerous case illustrations and practical examples of how to assess, understand and manage individuals presenting with disease preoccupations, health anxiety and/or beliefs that they are seriously ill. It approaches its subject from various perspectives and is a work of integration and critical thinking about an area often shrouded in controversy.

If you experience troubling symptoms, it’s only natural to worry about your health. But if your anxiety persists even after doctors tell you they can find nothing wrong, it may be hurting you more than it helps. You might research medical conditions on the internet, exercise constantly, or check your body for signs of disease, all the while growing more and more consumed by worry. And that worry has consequences of its own—the never-ending cycle of anxiety can all but destroy your quality of life. If you’re ready to stop being overly preoccupied with fears about your health, Overcoming Health Anxiety offers an evidence-based approach called cognitive behavioral therapy to help you get started. You’ll learn the difference between people with health anxiety and hypochondriacs, find the root of your health anxiety, and challenge illness-related thoughts. In time, you’ll drastically reduce your fears and enjoy a life free from recurring health-related worries. This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit — an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.