Health anxiety also called illness anxiety disorder or hypochondriasis can be debilitating, but its highly treatable with consistent effort and evidencebased strategies. Heres a few approaches to reclaim your life

Professional Treatment Therapy
CBT Gold standard targets thoughtsbehaviors.
ACT Teaches acceptance of discomfort valuedriven action.
Medication if therapy isnt enough
SSRIs e.g., sertraline, fluoxetine reduce overall anxiety.
Avoid benzodiazepinesthey worsen health anxiety longterm.

Core Principles for Recovery
1. Understand the cycle
Health anxiety thrives on
Bodily sensation Catastrophic thought This is cancer! Anxiety Hypervigilance Reinforced fear.

2. Goal Break this cycle by changing your relationship with uncertainty and physical sensations.

3.Stop bodychecking No more scanning for lumps, taking daily vitals, or inspecting skin.

4. Mindfulness Observe, dont react I notice my stomach hurts. Its a feelingnot a prophecy.

5. Grounding 54321 method Name 5 things you see, 4 you feel, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste.

Please dont hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions or need further supportIm here to helpDr. Veleniss

Hi, creative and somatic therapies can be incredibly effective for relieving anxiety. If you are in the United States then you can search for a provider who is licensed in your state. If you are within California - I have availability to accept new clients - please visit www.sylvansart.com for more information and to contact me directly.

Therapy

There is not such a thing as Healthy Anxiety, you may consider worry or Apprehension of a situation that is new or hard to deal with. Anxiety is treatable with CBT or other modalities of care Pt needs to not start using benzodiazepines which are addicted, therapy and natural ways of healing are helpful pathways for resolution of Anxiety

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness-CBT work well together at treating health anxiety. Would you like to schedule an appointment?