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Posts tagged "anxiety"

Safety Behaviors to Cope with Health Anxiety

Nov 09, 2023 Posted by: Brittney Chesworth anxiety, cognitive behavioral therapy, coping mechanisms, cycle of health anxiety, excessive checking, fear of disease, health anxiety, hypochondria, preventive behaviors, reassurance-seeking, safety behaviors, socratic dialogue, symptoms, thinking errors

There are 3 common safety behaviors that people with health anxiety engage in. It is important to identify these unhelpful behaviors in order to learn how to refrain from them. One can learn to not refrain from these behaviors through CBT, including exposure and response prevention.

How Cognitive Biases can Intensify Health Anxiety

Oct 05, 2023 Posted by: Brittney Chesworth anxiety, biased information processing, bodily sensations, health anxiety, hypochondria, memory bias, symptoms

When we hold dysfunctional beliefs about disease, information processing biases strengthen our beliefs. One type of information bias is the memory bias, in which we selectively recall threatening data. One way to correct biased information processing is to collect data to assess the accuracy of memories.

How Anxiety about Health can Disrupt Someone's Life

Sep 27, 2023 Posted by: Brittney Chesworth anxiety, core beliefs, cycle of health anxiety, fear of disease, health anxiety, hypochondria, safety behaviors, symptoms

People with severe health anxiety hold dysfunctional or maladaptive beliefs about health and illness. Dysfunctional beliefs develop early in life and are strengthened through reinforcement. Dysfunctional beliefs enter one into a cycle of unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that worsens health anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to interrupt this cycle by modifying maladaptive beliefs, thinking errors, and safety behaviors.

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