7 Ways to Manage Health Anxiety

Managing health anxiety—when you’re excessively worried about having a serious illness despite little or no medical evidence—can be tough but totally doable with the right tools. Here’s a mix of practical strategies that really help:

1. Understand the pattern

Health anxiety often involves a cycle:

• You notice a sensation (e.g., chest pain).
• You worry it’s serious.
• You seek reassurance (Google, doctors, etc.).
• Reassurance helps briefly, but the worry comes back.

Recognizing this cycle is the first step.

2. Limit reassurance-seeking

It might feel helpful in the moment, but:

• Constantly Googling symptoms = more anxiety.
• Asking for repeated reassurance can feed the fear.

Set boundaries with yourself: e.g., “No symptom checking or Googling for 24 hours.”

3. Practice grounding techniques

When anxiety hits, try:

• 5-4-3-2-1 technique: name 5 things you see, 4 you feel, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste.
• Deep breathing: inhale 4 sec, hold 4 sec, exhale 4 sec, hold 4 sec (box breathing).

These can calm your nervous system and give your brain space to reframe the fear.

4. Challenge unhelpful thoughts

Ask yourself:

• “What’s the evidence for and against this thought?”
• “What’s a more balanced way to look at this?”
• “Have I felt this way before, and what was the outcome?”

Write it down—it can make the worry less powerful.

5. Limit body-checking

Constantly checking your pulse, looking at your skin, or scanning your body can heighten anxiety. Set rules like:

• Only check symptoms once a day at a set time, or
• Only if new symptoms last more than 24–48 hours.

6. Build tolerance for uncertainty

Nobody has 100% certainty about their health. Practicing acceptance of “I don’t know for sure, and that’s okay for now” is powerful.

7. Consider professional help

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is highly effective for health anxiety. If this is interfering with daily life, talking to a therapist can help retrain your thought patterns.