Monsters Inside Me
by Anonymous | Thursday, Mar 20, 2025I am sure you have experienced googling why you may be experiencing a common symptom such as nausea, headaches, or soreness. All of a sudden you are bombarded with information of all the possible illnesses containing that symptom. In a matter of seconds, you stumble across hundreds of health conditions ranging from something as simple as indigestion and motion sickness to as serious as liver cancer and meningitis. Perhaps you do not think too much of this occurrence, however, some individuals fall down a web-surfing hole for a 3 hour period and genuinely convince themselves that they have a brain tumor. Although this person has no, or at most, mild somatic symptoms, they cannot help themselves from feeling an immense wave of distress and anxiety .
The first time I encountered illness anxiety disorder was when I was around 10 years old. Of course, at the time I did not even understand this was a disorder or that there was a specific term to explain what I was experiencing. While growing up, my mother used to love watching Monsters Inside Me, a TV series explaining the effects of rare parasites with real-life cases. Each time I would watch an episode with her, I would become immensely afraid and start to feel as though I had the same symptoms as the individuals that contracted the parasites. This distressing feeling carried on with me as I grew older, even if I just had a random stomach ache. Spending countless hours researching in the depth of the night, questioning what this could mean for my health and my future. Although I would eventually reflect on my distress and reason it was excessive, I could not keep the thoughts out of my mind.
Illness anxiety disorder, previously referred to as hypochondriasis, refers to individuals that feel anxious towards their health and feel as though they are developing a serious illness. This is experienced in between 1 to 5 percent of the population, which may sound small, but considering there are 8 billion people in this world, this small percentage is quite a significant amount. This disorder actually resembles obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) quite a bit, which consists of having unreasonable fears and thoughts which lead to behaving compulsively. The obsessive aspect of OCD is very similar to illness anxiety disorder, as both involve obsessive ruminations without having the ability to stop their thought processes. However, the reason why illness anxiety disorder is not just a subcategory of OCD, is because individuals with “OCD fear getting a disease, while individuals with illness anxiety disorder fear having the disease,” (Mayo Clinic).
Luckily, there is a wide range of research focusing on understanding both OCD and illness anxiety disorder, and many of the treatments that help individuals treat OCD also benefit illness anxiety disorder. The most notable include cognitive-behavior therapy, which teaches individuals the skills necessary to better manage their obsessive thoughts and how to cope with them. Alternatively, individuals may partake in psychoeducational therapy, which provides them with a deeper knowledge about the disorder and a secure support system. It has even been found that Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy, which is specifically utilized to treat OCD patients, has benefits to effectively treat illness anxiety disorder. This therapy can help patients resist the need for reassurance, the urge to further research the symptoms they are experiencing, and “refrain from medical assistance driven by anxiety”.
Unfortunately, this disorder is often difficult for others to truly understand. Many people experiencing illness anxiety disorder receive negative responses while expressing their situation. Instead of providing much needed support,their close ones may tell them to “get over it”, brushing off their thoughts, and claiming that they are overreacting. It is difficult to be taken seriously, gain sympathy, be respected, or even avoid becoming a laughing matter. After experiencing one negative response, it can become particularly discouraging to express your concerns to others, and it becomes easier to simply keep it to yourself.
If someone feels close enough to you to disclose/reveal/confide in you that they have illness anxiety disorder, please try your best to listen to the individual’s concerns and provide support for them. It is already a huge step for them to be trusting you and sharing their concerns in the first place.
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/illness-anxiety-disorder/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373787
https://www.cognitivebehaviorassociates.com/illness-anxiety-disorder/
https://www.ocdtypes.com/illness-anxiety.php
https://adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/professional/exposure-and-response-prevention-what-if