Today’s lesson: why some people constantly believe they are sick when actually they aren’t?

Introduction

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It might be hard to understand why something like this can happen, but just like there are people who have a constant fear of everything, there is a similar disorder consisting on individuals who are completely sure they are suffering from some kind of disease, when in reality, they aren’t. It is just their mind tricking them, and if they are suffering from something, it is in fact, their own delusion.

They are always on the lookout for the minimum feeling that could mean something is wrong with their bodies, kind of like an obsession or mental competition, consisting in identifying the more diseases the "better".

For millions, a cough is not merely a cough; it’s a drumroll of death, and no amount of diagnostic assurance can convince them otherwise. | Source

Of course, living like this is not something very sustainable when it comes to keeping up our performance in our daily activities, therefore, it is something that has the potential to take a toll on people’s live.

What is this problem all about?

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This is a mental disorder called Hypochondria which is defined as follows:

Excessive preoccupation with the (false) idea that one is in ill health. Hypochondriacs are generally difficult to reassure; their health worries may persist even after receiving a clean bill of health from a physician or a diagnostic procedure. |Source
... it is defined as "preoccupation with fears of having, or the idea that one has, a serious disease, based on a misinterpretation of bodily symptoms. This preoccupation must have been present for at least six months and persists despite adequate medical reassurance. | Source

This disorder is basically about having an exaggerated fear of having a serious illness. People suffering from this really believe their health may be in danger and they live obsessed with this idea, despite having gone to the doctor and having enough evidence to prove that they are healthy. The emotional tension they experience when believing they are sick is so intense that it creates a lot of actual suffering and discomfort, that ironically, can eventually manifests themselves in their bodies as a result of their constant thoughts and beliefs about being sick. Our mind is very powerful and it is capable of really changing things based on our beliefs and perceptions.

Our thoughts and emotions have widespread effects on bodily processes like metabolism, hormone release, and immune function. | Source

This delusional dynamic can have its origins in people who have lost a loved one because they had a serious illness resulting in an emotional turmoil that can make them consciously or even unconsciously, begin to have an excessive fear of suffering from the same disease, and having the same fate as the loved one. The same can happen if the person himself was the one suffering from a very difficult disease, so he might be worry it could happen again.

Or perhaps instead of going through the lost of a loved one, the person might have had overprotective parents who worried about their health in an exaggerated way. For example, parents who at the first symptom, although it did not matter too much, took their son to the doctor, so the child kept visiting the doctor constantly, making him more prone to develop the same exaggerated worry towards everything related to his health, and starts to seriously informing himself about all types of complicated diseases, which with the mere fact of doing so, begins to have an attitude of extreme vigilance of his own body, and can even think the symptoms he is experiencing are related to a serious illness. For example, having the feeling of dizziness, increased heart rate, sweating, and thinking that it can be a heart attack.

People with hypochondria resemble those with OCD: They worry excessively and feel compelled to do something, like visit the doctor over and over. | Source

Another thing that needs to be taken into account, is the fact that there will always be people that for some reason have a constant emotional need that requires for them to feel like everyone else is paying constant attention to them no matter what. In simply words, needy people. These people can develop this disorder consciously or unconsciously in order to draw the attention of others they so badly need, so that other people are more aware of them, and can more easily have a topic of conversation and a reason to accompany them throughout the day.

Hypochondriacs are not looking for a cure to their ailment, but rather a witness to their suffering. They are missing an internalized good mother who is concerned for the child's symptoms and expresses empathy for their pain. | Source

It is important to know the key characteristics that people with this condition usually have, which are the followings:

• Be alert to each part of the body and make frequent examinations
• Have lingering doubts that the doctor has missed making the true diagnosis
• If affected by illness, conclude that some other illness will soon follow
• Have recurring thoughts about illness and its related symptoms
• Have frequent thoughts of visiting the doctor just for the sake of reassurance. | Source
• repeatedly avoiding contact with objects or situations for fear of exposure to diseases
• habitual internet searching for information about illnesses and their symptoms. | Source

Handling the disorder

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The people that are being affected by this issue should find a way to stop with their self diagnosis based on the information they manage to find, and take into account that said information might not necessarily be correct but even if it was correct, each person is different so they will have to physically go to a doctor to be better oriented and receive a proper evaluation adapted to their needs in case it is required.

They should not forget that the more they repeat something, they are reinforcing it. So if their daily topics are focused mainly on diseases, the only thing they do is continually remind themselves that they can suffer some of those diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to start changing those conversation topics that can be harmful.

If people feel that they have not been able to stop being such a hypochondriac by themselves, they will need to go and receive external help with someone able to help them so that they can stop having this exaggerated worry and start to decrease their stress. They should learn a way to identify which ones are real symptoms and which ones are created by their minds.

You know something is wrong because you believe what you're thinking, and what you're thinking is what you perceive to be feeling. So you can have five people tell you it's all in your mind and that's not good enough. | Source

The way people think is directly related to the way they feel. So if they take care of the quality of their thoughts and modify the current ones filled with worry and concern, for others that are more positive, they will feel better with themselves in every way.

If the thoughts about being sick are very hard to avoid, then it would be wise starting to do things that require all or almost all of their attention, distracting themselves doing things they like. They should let their mind focus on what they are doing moment to moment, being present in everything they do with the hopes of letting go the thoughts about the possible diseases they could have.

Conclusion

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Doctors often try to refer hypochondriacs for psychotherapy, but find the patient is resistant to the idea that their problem is psychological rather than physical. The patient feels dismissed by an uncaring doctor. | Source

Individuals suffering from this should receive all the support they can get from people close to them, even though they are mistaken about their beliefs of being sick, it is important to listen to them and take them seriously, after all, if they feel like being ignored or being mocked, it could make everything even worse.

If their problem is patiently explained, providing enough proof and support, there shouldn’t be any inconvenient for them to overcome this. But, it is indeed something that requires a certain approach so the individual in question is willing to collaborate and at least consider the possibility of him being mistaken in the first place.

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Have you ever thought you were sick when actually you were not?