How to know if you are a hypochondriac: 9 symptoms of this disorder

Worrying about health comes naturally, and helps us maintain a healthy lifestyle and take care of ourselves. However, in some cases this concern may become excessive, generating states of anxiety. This is what is known as hypochondria.

It is a very discomforting disorder but can go unnoticed, so it is important to recognize its symptoms. In this article we teach you how to detect if you are a hypochondriac person and with an excess of preoccupation with the diseases.

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What is hypochondria?

Hypochondria is a mental disorder that causes overconcern that you may be suffering from a serious illness or fear of being able to contract one.

The hypochondriac person will feel that the slightest discomfort in her body may be the symptom of illness, and you will quickly become obsessed with the idea that you are suffering from a serious illness or mortal.

Normally this excessive concern is not justified and it can appear for the simple fact of feeling a little discomfort, such as a headache, or after having found a mole.

This constant concern can affect the daily life of the person who suffers it, since fear ends up generating anxiety pictures and it can make the person avoid certain activities or places for fear of contracting a disease.

9 symptoms to know if you are a hypochondriac

If you identify with some of these symptoms, it is most likely that you are a hypochondriac and need to treat this problem with a professional.

1. Constant worry about getting sick

As we mentioned, the main characteristic of hypochondria is a constant and excessive concern for health, fearing that they are suffering from a disease or fear of developing one.

If you are a hypochondriac, the one with a small headache will be assaulted by the ideas that it may be a serious or even fatal disease.

2. Look for symptoms of the disease

Hypochondriacs are alarmed by any symptom and do not hesitate to seek information about it through the internet. They tend to self-examine to confirm or rule out that they may be suffering from a disease. Also are concerned with detecting new symptoms and performing self-diagnostics.

Searching for this information on the internet can aggravate fear and worry, as many mild symptoms can easily be part of a severe illness picture. That is why by consulting about the disease, the person will reinforce their conviction that they have something serious and their worry will still worsen.

3. Apprehension

This search for symptoms can generate apprehension in the hypochondriac person, and you may even begin to develop psychosomatically other new symptoms related to the disease you are concerned about.

For this reason, they also stay away from reading news or watching programs related to medical issues or being close to people with diseases, since their tendency to somatization can affect them.

4. Negativity and catastrophism

The person with hypochondria has a tendency to negativity and catastrophism, imagining the worst possible situation in any case. For example, if they make a wound, they can perfectly end up imagining that it could become infected and end up causing death.

5. Reaffirmation of your health

Hypochondriacs constantly seek to discuss their health with friends or family, even visiting to their doctor, to reassure them and assure them that they are well and do not suffer from any illness. They seek to reassure themselves and reaffirm that they are healthyeven when they have no symptoms of any kind.

6. Medical diagnosis is never enough

However, even if they assure them that everything is correct and they do not suffer from any disease, they will still think that they may have something. Hypochondriacs have a tendency to thinking that the doctor may be wrong or that the tests are inconclusive, so they may need second opinions.

7. Real anxiety and symptoms

Worry and fear can lead to anxiety, where they do occur actual symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness, or a feeling of breathlessness, leading them to think that they may be a sign of a serious illness.

8. Avoid certain activities or places

There are hypochondriacs who avoid activities that they may consider dangerous to their health, for fear that it could lead to illness or injury. The same happens with going to certain places that may seem risky, for fear of contagion.

9. Affects daily life

You are definitely a hypochondriac person if all these worries and habits end up negatively affecting different aspects of your life, such as work, your family relationships or your social life.

The anxiety generated by constantly worrying about your health can become an obstacle in your daily life. In that case it should be treated as a disorder and you should go to professionals to help you with this problem.

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