Worried Sick The Exaggerated Fear Of Physical Illness

Health anxiety is a distressing and debilitating condition and untreated continues on for years, worsening again every time the affected person becomes slightly ill. An innovative program of treatment begun in 1996 by the Anxiety and Phobia Center of White Plains Hospital has been tested overtime and found to relieve this otherwise chronic condition. This book and its companion, Worried Sick? The Workbook, explain the principles of the cognitive-behavioral treatment of health anxiety and give detailed direction on how to implement such a program. In addition, specific information is given correcting the various misconceptions of the health worrier. Experience has shown that health worriers willing to follow the explicit instructions in these books will experience considerable and long-lasting relief of their health anxiety.

Health anxiety is the inclination to worry excessively about one's health. This fear is so pervasive and stubborn that most health worriers continue to worry even when reassured by their doctors that there is nothing the matter with them. This workbook is a companion to the book: Worried Sick? The Exaggerated Fear of Physical Illness. The book gives an explanation of the causes of this anxiety disorder and the principles of treatment Worried Sick? The Workbook presents a week by week prescription on how to implement this program. It is intended as a detailed guide for the health worrier. Included are forms for the record-keeping that is essential. Included, also, is all the information necessary for psychologists and other professionals to institute their own program for the treatment of health anxiety. Indeed, as this common emotional disorder is recognized more readily, similar treatment programs have begun to appear in different medical centers around the country. There is a surprisingly high rate of success for a condition that had been thought previously to be resistant to every form of treatment.

Global Emergency of Mental Disorders is a comprehensive, yet easy-to-read overview of the neurodevelopmental basis of multiple mental disorders and their accompanying consequences, including addiction, suicide and homelessness. Compared to other references that examine the treatment of psychiatric disorders, this book uniquely focuses on their neurodevelopment. It is designed for neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology students, and various other clinical professions. With chapters on anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and others, this volume provides information about incidence, prevalence and mortality rates in addition to developmental origins. With millions worldwide affected, this book will be an invaluable resource. Explores psychiatric disorders from a neurodevelopmental perspective Covers multiple disorders, including anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder Examines the brain mechanisms that underly disorders Addresses the opioid epidemic and suicide Reviews special patient populations by gender and age

This title seeks to change the way we think about hypochondria and to use hypochondria to sharpen our thinking about health care. The book's four parts examine hypochondria as a condition of biology; of medicine; of culture; and of narrative.

Now more than ever patients are taking control of their own health care, leaving many conventional physicians unsure about their role as dispensers of medical knowledge. More waiting rooms are now filled with highly informed medical consumers seeking to partner with their doctors. They want to explore all promising treatiments, both mainstream and alternative, and connect emotionally. To physicians, these patients seem needy and demanding. They expect a lot of attention, but are all too quick to question authority and battle doctors for control of medical care. To patients, though, such physicans come off as distant and stodgy, even arrogant. Many walk away entirely from mainstream medicine seeking a better partnership or they neglect to mention the alternative tretments they're using for fear of disapproval. Less assertive patients simply clam up-put off by doctors' increasingly brusque bedside manner and shorthand use of "medicalese." The unfortunate result in each case is the same: miscommunication and missed opportunities. Patiens fail to receive the best care available to them, and doctor-patient relationships fall far short of the caring and mutually satisfying exchanges they should be. "How to Talk with Your Doctor" is a book for patients and doctors alike. It arms patients with the tools and knowledge they need to communicate better with physicians about using the best high-tech and alternative treatments while also helping doctors balance their skepticism of complementary and alternative approaches with open-mindedness.

Nortin Hadler's clearly reasoned argument surmounts the cacophony of the health care debate. Hadler urges everyone to ask health care providers how likely it is that proposed treatments will afford meaningful benefits and he teaches how to actively listen to the answer. Each chapter of Worried Sick is an object lesson on the uses and abuses of common offerings, from screening tests to medical and surgical interventions. By learning to distinguish good medical advice from persuasive medical marketing, consumers can make better decisions about their personal health care and use that wisdom to inform their perspectives on health-policy issues.