Health Anxiety & Hypochondria: How do you deal with it?

I’m not much of a writer, so I don't really know how to start this, but I'll give it a shot. For about two years now, I've been dealing with these health issues that just won't quit. At first, I figured it was my heart because I've put on some weight. Then the heart stuff settled down, but then came the stinging sensations, headaches, and this weird pressure in my head. Maybe I'm being too much, but here's the backstory. It all basically started during my time in the military. I just couldn't adjust—not even a little bit. I ended up hospitalized because of high blood pressure; they could tell I was a wreck, so they kept me there for ten days. When I was getting discharged, I was a mess. My heart was racing, and I actually asked my doctor for paperwork just to prove what I was going through. Eventually, I saw a military psychologist who helped me get a medical discharge from active duty, which turned into a permanent exemption. Once I got back home, the anxiety took over. I was constantly terrified I was going to have a heart attack or a stroke. I shut myself in the house and isolated from everyone. I even started picking fights with my parents over nothing, even though deep down I knew they were right. I just couldn't help it. The physical symptoms shifted. The chest pains stopped, but then my arms started stinging, and I felt this lightheadedness—not dizzy, just... off. Like a pressure building up above my eyes and nose. Lately, whenever it gets hot out, it hits me hard. I get pain in the back of my neck and pressure at the base of my skull. I went to see a top-tier specialist, an amazing internist, and she told me I was perfectly healthy. I felt relieved for three days. Then I went for an EKG just to be sure, and it was totally normal. Heart rate fine, blood pressure 130/80—nothing. But the heat-induced symptoms kept coming back. I started spiraling, thinking maybe I had a brain tumor or something equally terrifying. I ran full blood panels and hormone tests, and everything came back perfect. My doctor told me straight up: if something was wrong, the bloodwork would show it. I was calm for a few more days, until the symptoms flared up again and I ended up in the ER. They told me the same thing: nothing is wrong. Deep down, I know they're right. I've seen six different doctors in the last month, and they all say the same thing: it's nerves. I'm just too anxious. I bite my nails constantly, and my hands used to shake all the time. I've started seeing a therapist. She’s really trying, and I’ve actually felt a little better the last few days. But then, about two hours ago, it hit me again. It won't let up. I need to focus on college and my exams, but I just can't. It's not that I'm not trying—I am. I'm exercising, I'm dieting, I'm doing everything I can to fix my life. But it's not working. I thought once the test results came back clean, everything would just vanish, but it doesn't work like that. When I'm around people, I'm okay. I can chat, joke around, and feel normal. But most of the time, I'm alone. And when I'm alone, it's just me and my thoughts, and that is a living hell. That's when the tears come and I start obsessing over everything I should have done differently in the past. I look at the life I've made for myself and how it's affected everyone around me. That's what hurts the most. I don't have any siblings, but my mom is dealing with serious health issues of her own. She's having surgery this Monday, and I'm trying my best to support her. I can't tell her about my struggles because I don't want to stress her out. Seeing how happy she is because she thinks I'm doing fine... I don't have the heart to tell her the truth. I'm 22.

Hey there!

In your situation, I wouldn't call it "hypochondria." You're already seeing a psychiatrist, which is a great step. It might just be that you haven't found the right medication cocktail yet,
or perhaps what you're on isn't quite hitting the mark.

I know what I'm talking about. At 62, I can tell you that twelve years ago, I dealt with major depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and a personality disorder.

My take? Anxiety seems to be the root cause here. Be completely honest with your doctor. Tell them exactly what you're feeling, and if it feels necessary, ask about adjusting your prescription.

Best of luck.

🙂 😉 😎

So, if your doctors told you it’s nerve-related, then that’s what we're working with—it's all about those nerves. Honestly, it sounds like you’re just feeling incredibly frustrated and restless right now. Those dark thoughts? They can be super tied to depression, and it sounds like all those symptoms are starting to creep in. You really need to sit down and figure out some priorities—not for anyone else, but for your own sake—just to get some momentum going. You can't fix your entire life in one giant leap; trying to force everything to change all at once is a trap. It just makes you feel even more overwhelmed and useless, which isn't fair because, let's face it, it's impossible to do everything at once.
Just take it one step at a time.
I don't know, have you ever thought about sitting down with a psychologist or a psychiatrist just to talk things through?

It sounds like you might be going through a bit of a late identity crisis😁 🙂

Honestly, everything you just described is something my group of girlfriends and I went through back in high school—there were at least five of us, and some of us even carried it through college. We all spent so much time convinced we were total hypochondriacs, but looking back, I realize the root of it all was just pure anxiety stemming from so many different places. We were essentially putting this subconscious pressure on ourselves, which then manifested as physical symptoms. That stress can come from anything—worrying about passing an exam, keeping up with school, landing a job, or even just being anxious about the safety of our loved ones, among countless other things. Instead of actually tackling the source of our worries to find some peace of mind, we would just spiral into a state of panic without ever taking any real steps to change our perspective or solve the underlying issue...
The most important thing you can do is sit down and really identify what specifically is making you feel so on edge, and once you know that, you have to commit to addressing it. One thing that helped me tremendously, especially when dealing with that tightness in the chest, the tingling sensations, or those sudden hot flashes, was getting active. It doesn’t have to be intense training; it could be simple aerobics at home, light housework, hitting a local gym, or just a quick jog around town—anything, really. Physical activity is such a great way to divert your focus away from that constant loop of intrusive thoughts, and it helps you prove to yourself that your body is actually functioning perfectly fine. Trust me, it makes a world of difference, so please don't make excuses or tell yourself you can't do it; just go out there and DO IT. Start moving instead of just sitting there worrying and bouncing from one doctor's appointment to another. Since you've already been cleared by professionals and they told you you're healthy, you need to start believing them. It’s really up to you; if you managed to convince yourself that something was wrong, now you have to work on convincing yourself that nothing is. You truly are healthy, so try to figure out why you're putting yourself under this mental pressure that manifests as physical fear. Just hang in there, and seriously, let's get moving—start with some light exercise right away and try to overthink it a little less!🙂.. 🙂

If you stick with it for a month, you will definitely see a change in how you feel!...🙂

It’s honestly a bit unsettling when you hear something like that directly from the chief of infectious diseases at your local hospital.

I mean, what does that actually imply? Are we talking about someone just being a hypochondriac—you know, all in their head—or is there a genuine chance that thinking yourself sick can actually trigger a physical illness?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, any advice you might have, or even just your own personal experiences with this kind of thing...

It essentially means you’re living in a constant state of health anxiety, perpetually convinced that something is wrong with you. Look, feeling like you're sick doesn't actually make it a reality, but by obsessively fixating on every possible ailment, you might just manifest the very stress that makes you feel unwell... so please, try to stop spiraling and start focusing on the fact that you are healthy.
My old man is such a hypochondriac; he’s constantly worrying about some kind of... cancer, an infection, stiffness, random aches...🙄 you wouldn't believe it!!! In the end, it always turns out he's perfectly fine, but he’ll diagnose himself with all sorts of nonsense and cling to it until a doctor tells him otherwise, only to immediately move on to the next perceived anomaly. It’s exhausting, honestly... I think everyone dealing with this could benefit from seeing a good psychologist, because this kind of obsessive thinking can genuinely take a toll on your physical health! You really ought to talk to someone, because regardless of how old you are, if you're still young, I truly don't think you need this kind of mental weight dragging you down in life...

W R O N G!!!!!!

coastalmoose8 said:It’s not exactly comforting when the head of infectious diseases at your local hospital tells you something like that.

What does that actually entail—are you just imagining you're sick, or does the psychosomatic stress eventually manifest into an actual physical ailment?

I'm looking for comments, advice, or anyone's personal experiences...

Personally, I’d find that incredibly reassuring! It would mean there's nothing actually wrong with me.😁

To be honest, I often find myself dwelling on certain symptoms—my family loves to nag me about being a hypochondriac—but I doubt I'd ever receive a serious diagnosis.
Though, truth be told, if you spend your entire life under the crushing stress of believing you have an incurable disease, you'll probably end up catching a real illness just from the sheer strain on your system.

By the way, medical professionals often prescribe placebos to hypochondriacs; essentially, it's just a sugar pill, but they tell the patient it's the specific cure for their imagined condition.
The individual takes it and becomes fully convinced they are "recovering." Of course, those placebos are always outrageously expensive because no "respectable" ( 😁 ) hypochondriac is going to trust some cheap, off-brand medication!

Hey everyone—I have to say, these tools are absolutely fantastic for cutting through the noise, but there’s a massive catch. The issue I keep running into is that you can take the exact same lab results to five different specialists at five different hospitals—say, from Mayo Clinic to Johns Hopkins—and walk away with five completely different diagnoses. It’s incredibly disorienting; you end up more confused than when you started, just totally lost as to what's actually going on with your own body.

Best,

Going to five different specialists for the same thing is a little weird, don't you think?

Do you seriously hit up a different doctor every single time you feel a "new symptom"?

The Chief of Infectious Diseases is the ultimate authority on infectious illnesses. If you actually had symptoms of something serious, wouldn't lab tests easily catch it—maybe some hidden hepatitis or similar?
Perhaps the smartest move would be to try and put these symptoms out of your mind for a few months. Or better yet, why not consult a specialist—maybe start with a psychologist and just talk it through?
The reality is that people with health anxiety often experience "real" physical sensations even when they're technically healthy.
But then again, you have doctors who are all too quick to write everything off as psychosomatic when a patient is actually suffering from something legitimate.
So there's my version of "comforting" you.😁

Hey ladies, I really appreciate all the kind words—you all truly cheered me up...

I ended up heading over to the Mayo Clinic because my primary doctor, my specialist, and even my GP... none of them could give me a straight answer regarding a concrete diagnosis.
And honestly? I don't think I need a therapist right now!

Take care,

coastalmoose8 said:Who needs a therapist anyway?!

Hey

For sure!

Later 😉

We run into these people every single day.
They’re in our families, our friend groups, at the office, or even just next door.
The pattern is always the same: the moment you mention a minor ache or a recent diagnosis—whatever it may be—they suddenly become experts. They feel compelled to explain it all to you because, lo and behold, they’ve "dealt with the exact same thing."
Beyond their own endless list of ailments, they act as though they possess medical degrees in everything else. They might even pick a fight if you dare suggest they’re overreacting.

So, what actually defines hypochondria, and who are the people truly suffering from it?
What drives this constant fear of illness, or perhaps even a strange fascination with it?
Is it possible that this obsession eventually manifests as actual physical sickness?
Do you have a hypochondriac in your life? Do they get under your skin?
How do you handle them?

You gotta tell a real story from your life, this isn't nearly interesting enough

So, I used to know this woman who was dealing with some serious rheumatoid arthritis or something similar, right? And someone actually convinced her that if she just carried a few chestnuts in her left pocket—like, tucked right into her coat—it would help her 😁 because apparently, the pain would just "vanish into thin air" after a few months 🤣

And this lady—who, mind you, was highly educated and smart (?)—was an actual architect by trade... she spent her time picking up wild chestnuts from some random park like a total pauper. Honestly, I have no clue if the pain ever actually vanished

Meanwhile, I’ve had all sorts of characters hitting on me (and even my parents back when I was younger) peddling these "miracle cures" for diabetes, claiming they "used to have issues, but look at us now." The real kicker is that diabetes doesn't exactly hurt, so their subjective feeling of being "healthy" didn't actually mean a damn thing. It was a double whammy because they were talking about a completely different illness while trying to help me out. They even had the nerve to lecture my parents for "allowing me to be put on insulin"🙄

Ugh, okay, one more story. My husband's grandfather is super old, and he's never been sick a day in his life, but it looks like he survived a bad kidney infection and now his kidneys are pretty damaged. We've taken him to every specialist under the sun—his condition is somewhat stable, but there's always that looming threat that things could take a turn for the worse. But nope, he's decided his kidneys are perfectly fine, and the *real* issue bothering him is just gallstones. He went to see some private practitioner for an ultrasound, and the guy basically confirmed there was a tiny stone, and boom—case closed, Grandpa is cured. Now he's all happy and chipper because he finally knows what's "wrong" with him. All those other doctors who poked and prodded him are just butchers who don't know anything, whereas this one guy with the ultrasound machine is the real deal... he healed him! 😁

rustymoose54 said:I once knew this woman who was struggling with some kind of arthritis or something similar, and someone convinced her that carrying a few chestnuts in her left pocket would help 😁 because apparently, they "work wonders" after a few months 🤣

And this lady—who was actually quite sharp and educated, an architect by trade!—was out there scavenging wild chestnuts from the park like a total amateur. I honestly don't know if they helped her one bit!

My mother-in-law actually stuffs chestnuts under her mattress to sleep on! 🤣 Someone told her it was super healthy,
and poor thing, she wakes up feeling absolutely crushed every single morning!

Hypochondria is a brutal psychological disorder. People struggling with it need actual support, not some cheap mockery. What you’re describing here isn't technically hypochondria, but it definitely falls under the same umbrella.

I honestly think they’re just looking for attention and sympathy
wanting everyone to fuss over them and offer endless pity
because they’re "sick"
which is often portrayed as something incredibly debilitating and incurable

The woman I mentioned earlier claims she has diabetes
Since my business partner's mom was a severe diabetic and went through so many struggles a few years back, I actually know quite a bit about what that illness entails
So, at a recent family get-together, I asked her how she was managing—you know, asking about symptoms, medications, and all that—because I'm admittedly a total nerd when it comes to health details
But instead of answering, she just starts fidgeting and acting all awkward
Then she finally tells me she has the most extreme version of diabetes that science hasn't even found a cure for yet, so she doesn't take any medicine because it hasn't been invented yet!

Gary Jones10 said:So, we run into these people every single day.
It’s in our own families, among friends, at work, even with neighbors. Anywhere, really.
To them, everyone is the same—the moment you mention a minor ache or some diagnosis, they suddenly become experts. They’ll explain everything to you because, get this: they’ve "had it" too.
Beyond having a laundry list of their own issues, they act like specialists in diseases they don't even have. They’ll even pick a fight if you dare suggest they might be overreacting just a little.

What exactly is hypochondria, and who are the people actually suffering from it?
What drives that intense fear of illness, or perhaps even a strange fascination with it?
Is it possible that being obsessed with sickness actually ends up causing physical symptoms?
Do you know any hypochondriacs? Do they drive you crazy?
How do you deal with them?

There you go. A textbook case. Hypochondria isn't really the root issue; it's more of a symptom. It doesn't just appear out of thin air. It's tied to neuroses, anxiety, depression, and all that other crap. For me, when my head is in a good place (which, let's face it, is rare), the hypochondria fades or disappears entirely. But when things go south, there it is. I read somewhere that hypochondriacs use it as a way to seek attention—I agree—and that they... honestly, I don't even feel like typing the rest. Look, the hypochondriacs don't give a damn, and frankly, neither does everyone else forced to deal with them. There's no mutual understanding. One side thinks, "how can you be sick if you look fine?" It's exhausting. I don't have much energy for this topic. All I know is it’s a mess for the sufferers, their families, and the doctors alike.
🙂

jadesailor14 said:I think they just want attention and sympathy
so people will fuss over them and coddle them
because they are sick
often very seriously and incurably

Look, seeking attention like that from time to time—especially among kids (even I played the sick card a few times growing up, you know, just to dodge school or get Mom to fuss over me with cocoa and worried glances—but after the second time, 😁 saw right through me)—isn't unusual, nor should it be considered pathological. Provided it happens rarely, of course.

But what about those who go overboard? Those who spend all day talking about their ailments, drifting from one clinic to another, and eventually, absurdly enough, actually end up with diagnoses.

Velislav asked for an example. Fine. My aunt has been like this since she was a child (or so my mother tells me). She spends her life on the couch with a headache or some other ailment, complaining about everything under the sun. Her two daughters, my cousins, were basically running the household by age nine or ten—doing dishes, prepping meals—all because "Mom isn't feeling well." They still treat her that way today. To be honest, nobody knows what is actually wrong with her. She has a massive file of diagnoses, though it seems to me she’s missing the real one. She probably needs a psychiatrist rather than a GP.

Besides, I believe there is someone like that right here on this forum. I don't need to name names. Just browse around. 😉

The issue is that these people refuse to admit they have a real problem—a psychological one. Instead, they demand that doctors validate them with a diagnosis. But not one starting with an "F."

And then, inevitably, they find something. Blood pressure, iron levels, blood sugar, rheumatism—you name it.

Gary Jones10 said:Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s someone just like him lurking right here among us forum members. Not that I feel the need to point fingers and name names.

😂 🤣