Freedom from Health Anxiety: Understand and Overcome Obsessive Worry about Your Health or Someone Else's and Find Peace of Mind

Summary

Are you constantly worrying about your health, or the health of a loved one? Do you frequently check yourself for lumps, bumps, tingling, or pain? Do you find yourself endlessly looking up symptoms on the internet? Perhaps you find yourself asking others for reassurance or validation that you're okay, obsessing over health scares in the media, or monitoring your blood pressure on an hourly basis? No matter how your health anxiety manifests, it can be a crippling psychological burden. Endlessly ruminating about illness and death can affect all aspects of life—at home, work, school, as well as the doctor's office.

In Freedom from Health Anxiety, nationally recognized anxiety expert Karen Lynn Cassiday teaches you skills to conquer health anxiety, once and for all. You'll learn to switch from focusing on worst-case scenarios to appreciating the joy of the present moment—regardless of health status. Using a blend of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), positive psychology, and the author's "learned inhibition" model, you'll finally acquire the tools you need to take charge of your fear and break the cycle of stressing over your—or your loved one's—well-being. You'll also learn effective methods for tolerating health uncertainty, getting in touch with your body's cues, and rediscovering the pleasure of the present.