Is health anxiety a form of ocd?

[monika]

I was wondering about this lately. The biggest thing talked about here seems to be HA and whatnot...I don't suffer from HA but I do suffer from Pure-O and one of the aspects of it is I fear I may start hearing voices or seeing things one day (SOCD). I get obsessed with the fear I may be shizo or something even though I know I am really not...And so with people who have HA, they fear they may have cancer, for example, and no matter what the doctors tell them or what tests come back they are not convinced...just like how I am with pure-o in a way.

So I'm just curious if HA is related to ocd. Is it another form of ocd or unrelated? Thoughts??
Thanks!

[robin321]

I am in therapy now (2 months in) and this has come up with my therapist and myself.
They can be related, especially the compuslive checking. For example, I feel the need to check my lymph node, or check my symptoms online, over and over and over. This is an OCD tendancy. And the obsession (your health) is also an OCD tendancy. And finally, the fact that you are self-aware of your anxiety is another part of OCD. So yes, it is a form of OCD.

[jade1978]

I agree they can be related, I check myself constantly for how I feel, am I in pain etc, I also think the same thoughts over and over again.

[Hypo]

I have had OCD since I was 6 years old but was only diagnosed 10 years ago.

When I get ill with HA I tell people my OCD is bad. For me they are related. The thoughts are the obsessions and the checking is a compulsion and it's no different than OCD, it just manifests differently.

[miss sparkle]

Just bumping this as find it a interesting question and wondered if anyone else wanted to share their thoughts.
I struggle with a answer as i although i say on this forum i have Ha, in my dad to day life i don't as i feel my giving it a name my symptoms aren't real.
But i agree, the obsessive thoughts, constant checking etc, does iden like characteristics of OCD x

[benjamin222]

My personal opinion, they are both 100% fueled by anxiety, but OCD and health anxiety aren't too similar beyond that.

I've experienced both, although my bout with OCD was quite brief and fairly mild compared to my ongoing battle with HA.

The differences, from my perspective:
During OCD, I needed things to be arranged certain ways. If something seemed out of place or at a weird angle, it bothered me to no end. Although I knew it was irrational, I remember thinking "If that pencil stays pointed that direction, something AWFUL is going to happen!". I also HATED numbers that ended in 1,2, or 3. Fictional example, but lets say somebody wanted to loan me money. If they gave me 22 dollars I'd feel very uncomfortable and give them 2 dollars back.

As far as health anxiety, the fears are based off of things in reality that I've read either on the internet or in medical books. True that it's absolutely still fueled by anxiety, but with health anxiety I get myself in this constant loop of "oh, my heart just did something weird... this feels new, what's wrong with me now?", causing anxiety, which causes more symptoms (which may or may not be completely psychosomatic). With OCD the fears were complete fantasy of odd things that I decided were dangerous with no basis in reality.

[LAURA48]

Hi

Yes tend to agree with the above post - very similiar - I have just been diagnosed with obessional OCD (Pure O) - and this has been for 27 years! had some respite whilst on Prozac for 15 years, but mine tends to be irrational thinking and fixational thoughts (on my husband) - thing is I have been sooo embarassed by this and have kept alot to myself and not even my GP - but things have come to a head and have been in such a bad state I had to seek professional help.

I have always suffered with GAD - but have never had health anxiety.

However, HA, irrational thinking are all fuelled by anxiety - my psychiatrist said - remove that and your mind is silenced!

Wish you all the very best and lots of help on here

Laura xx:hugs:

---------- Post added at 09:39 ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 ----------

Ben - may I ask what medication you are on? if any?

[xvolatileheart]

I definitely think they are related. They are both dysfunctional brain loops that fuel themselves - thought, compulsion, repeat. For OCD, it may be "I'm going to get a disease" - wash hands - confirm belief that you must wash your hands - repeat. For health anxiety, it may be "I have a disease" - monitor body - confirm belief that you must check your body - repeat.

They are also both certainly fueled by anxiety. The thought causes anxiety, which leads to acts to relieve the anxiety, these acts confirm the irrational thought, and the cycle continues.

You can read about the OCD brain loop here, which I think must be similar to that found in HA. It would definitely be interesting for more research to be done:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/articles/disorders/causesofocd.shtml

[emeraldgirl]

This is an interesting thread. I do think they are related and agree that they are different manifestations of anxiety. I have HA but agree with others that there is an obsession with health - I think about it every day, repeatedly. Not sure whether the compulsive part is the checking of google, checking for body symptoms etc or whether its more in the thought process