I recently learned about a great resource from the Western Australia government health authority on managing health anxiety, and wanted to share it here. The comprehensive guided workbook walks people through the different steps of recognizing and coping with health anxiety, and the accompanying information sheets give a useful overview of the issue and how it can affect us.
Health anxiety is a complicated problem for people living with chronic illness. On one hand, we want to identify and address those times when we are experiencing unfounded worries; on the other hand, many chronic illnesses benefit from vigilance in monitoring symptoms.
This page from the British Columbia (Canada) provincial health authority, produced by the non-profit group Anxiety Canada, makes an interesting distinction between fact-seeking and feeding fear when researching online. It’s a good reminder not to go too far down the rabbit hole!
