How is cognitive-behavioral therapy used for hypochondria?

Hypochondria is a psychological disorder that is very annoying and can even lead those who develop it to adopt behavior patterns that put their health at risk.

Fortunately, it is a disorder that can be treated effectively from Psychology, and specifically, from the cognitive-behavioral model applied to hypochondria. Let's see how.

• Related article: "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: what is it and on what principles is it based?"

What is hypochondria?

Hypochondria, also called hypochondriasis, is a psychopathological disorder in which the person develops a combination of fear of developing one or two specific diseases, on the one hand, and obsessive thoughts related to self-examination and confirmation that the symptoms of these diseases are suffered, by the other.

That is, the person suffers due to the fear generated by the idea of ​​having developed a health problem, and at the same time becomes prone to interpret any experience as a sign that he has developed this disease, so that he ends up resorting to the practices of "auto diagnosis". Not even the fact of going to the doctor and being informed that he does not suffer from a medical illness serves to reassure the person in the medium and long term.

In this way, hypochondria can be seen as an extreme vision of what happens to women. apprehensive people, but in a way it also has some qualitatively qualitative characteristics different. For example, the focus of what produces fear is always on diseases that arise within the body (and not on the fear of injury), and In addition, hypochondria interferes with the quality of life of the person, causing them to adopt behavior patterns based on the avoidance. A tendency to avoid that is not justified by their true state of health or by the risks of contracting or aggravating a disease.

Also, generally the discomfort associated with hypochondria is linked to real physical health problems, especially in the form of pain and itching. That is why it is included within somatoform disorders (recently renamed somatic symptom disorder), since discomfort psychological generated by this vicious cycle of anxiety, self-checks and obsessive thoughts can lead to physical discomfort through suggestion.

On the other hand, it should be noted that the simple belief that one has "poor health" without mentioning a specific disorder cannot be considered hypochondria. For this psychological disorder to occur, the person must name the pathology (or pathologies) that they believe they have, and based on those beliefs, interprets in one sense or another those things that he sees as symptoms. In any case, the diagnosis of this class of psychopathological problems can only be made by professionals of psychiatry and clinical psychology.

• You may be interested in: "Hypochondria: causes, symptoms and possible treatments"

How is hypochondria treated from cognitive-behavioral psychology?

As we have seen, hypochondria is based on a dynamic of feedback between anxiety and fear, on the one hand, and self-checking behaviors, on the other. These two elements lead the person to be very prone to obsessive thoughts and to have a very biased view of her state of health, since both by the way of thoughts and interaction with the environment and with his own body has constant reminders that there are aspects of his body that worry.

For this reason, cognitive-behavioral psychology is very effective, since it also acts through two ways: it intervenes both in the mental and private processes associated with the management of emotions and thoughts, as well as in the actions observable. In fact, the effects of this form of psychological intervention have been found to last long after psychotherapy has ended.

But let's see in a little more detail what are the psychological intervention processes that take place in the cognitive-behavioral model applied to hypochondria.

1. Questioning dysfunctional beliefs

Cognitive restructuring is one of the pillars of cognitive-behavioral psychological intervention, and consists of raise key questions and ideas that lead the person to question their most dysfunctional beliefs, those that have been underpinning the dynamics of thought and behavior that give strength to the disorder.

That is to say: the patient is not directly confronted by criticizing him for believing certain things, but rather invites you to see for yourself to what extent these ideas resist being contrasted with the reality.

• Related article: "Cognitive restructuring: what is this therapeutic strategy like?"

2. Detection of troublesome thoughts

Know how to identify recurring thoughts (that is, they appear involuntarily by breaking out in our consciousness) that precede self-tests is very useful to neutralize their influence on us. As we get used to seeing them from an objective and "rationalized" point of view, we are more resistant to letting ourselves be carried away by the negative feelings they generate in us, since We emphasize the predictability of these.

• You may be interested in: "What are trap thoughts and how to prevent them?"

3. Training in anxiety management techniques

Some of these techniques have immediate effects, and others have both immediate and cumulative effects in the medium and long term. Some examples of relaxation techniques would be controlled breathing with the diaphragm, progressive Jacobson's muscle relaxation, etc.

• Related article: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

4. Development of new healthy lifestyle habits through a routine plan

This element of cognitive-behavioral therapy involves both objectively limiting self-checking behaviors (for example, establishing a clear daily and weekly limit), as well as implement life routines that were previously avoided for fear of aggravating or contracting a disease, so that little by little the person learns to lose the fear of these experiences.

• You may be interested in: "10 daily habits that improve your emotional balance"

Do you want to have professional psychological support?

If you are looking for psychology services to overcome problems related to hypochondria, anxiety or dysfunctional fears in general, please contact me.

I am an expert psychologist in the cognitive-behavioral model and I work helping adults and adolescents. You can have my services in person in my office in Madrid, or through the online mode by video call.