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Posts tagged "exposure"

CBT for Health Anxiety: Facing Your Fears with Exposure and Response Prevention

Aug 31, 2023 Posted by: Brittney Chesworth anxiety, bodily sensations, cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure, health anxiety, hypochondria, safety behaviors, symptoms

People with health anxiety tend to see all bodily sensations and symptoms as dangerous. When symptoms or sensations emerge, people with health anxiety use "safety behaviors" to reduce their anxiety. In exposure therapy, one faces the feared stimuli (e.g., bodily sensations) without using safety behaviors.

Try the “No Help” Experiment to Improve Your Health Anxiety

Apr 27, 2023 Posted by: Brittney Chesworth anxiety, behavioral experiments, bodily sensations, catastrophize, cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure, health anxiety, hypochondria, reassurance-seeking, safety behaviors, symptoms

With health anxiety, we often assume that we need to be symptom-free in order to be healthy, but this isn't true.
"Body noise" includes symptoms and bodily sensations that are due to normal, self-regulatory processes that are not a serious disease.
Behavioral experiments can help you refrain from "black-and-white thinking" when it comes to your health.