Health Anxiety or OCD

[NPR73]

Hi after some advice. I seem to fluctuate from one health anxiety to another, one day it is the heart and the next the stomach. I am waiting for CBT but thinking treatment for OCD would be better, can anyone recommend anything?

Any tips on how to not focus on health would be brilliant as well.

Even on a glorious day like today when I should be outside I am sat inside locked in fear and searching the internet.

[MyNameIsTerry]

HA isn't a medical term, it's a sufferers term. Several disorders either sit inside what people regard as HA, for instance the Somatoform Disorders, but some overlap into HA like GAD and OCD.

So, what is your diagnosis as it could be OCD with HA themes currently. If it is OCD, it's likely it will move onto themes outside of HA anyway so more OCD based treatment is a better idea. But you will find much of therapy in the form of CBT covers elements of everything, it depends on what they tailor for you when it comes to the specifics.

[pablo0977]

HA isn't a medical term, it's a sufferers term. Several disorders either sit inside what people regard as HA, for instance the Somatoform Disorders, but some overlap into HA like GAD and OCD.

So, what is your diagnosis as it could be OCD with HA themes currently. If it is OCD, it's likely it will move onto themes outside of HA anyway so more OCD based treatment is a better idea. But you will find much of therapy in the form of CBT covers elements of everything, it depends on what they tailor for you when it comes to the specifics.

In the states HA is now a medical term as hypochondria has been retired by the APA. As for the relationship between OCD and HA, I believe the feed into each other. There are not always hard and fast borders between these conditions. Labels are necessary at the professional level for record keeping, but think of them like lines on a map. You cannot feel or see them as you walk across from California to Arizona, for example.

[Ocds_]

CBT is how OCD is treated many times.It is a mental illness in its own right but feeds off anxieties of any nature.

[MyNameIsTerry]

In the states HA is now a medical term as hypochondria has been retired by the APA. As for the relationship between OCD and HA, I believe the feed into each other. There are not always hard and fast borders between these conditions. Labels are necessary at the professional level for record keeping, but think of them like lines on a map. You cannot feel or see them as you walk across from California to Arizona, for example.

I'm afraid it isn't, Pablo. There are various possible disorders that exist to cover it but you won't find HA in the DSM. One example is Illness Anxiety Disorder. You also have an OCD Spectrum Disorders group.

And the US officially uses the WHO version that we use although they still use the DSM too.