There are people who are in constant anxiety and fear about their health. It seems to them that if they are not sick now, then they can get sick in the next moment. They listen to the sensations: is it time to the doctor, because they have almost a fatal illness. Their experiences are clear to doctors: they are sick and their disease is called - hypochondria.
What is hypochondria?
Hypochondria - a strange disease that often occurs even in childhood, gradually develops and in the period of adulthood completely captures the person, turning his life into a constant expectation or sensation of the disease, but the exact causes of its occurrence have not been established so far. The disease is not as funny and harmless as it may seem, and often leads to mental disorders , expressed in conditionally called obsessive, overvalued or delirious forms.
Who is a hypochondriac?
Official medicine claims that any person at any time can behave like a hypochondriac, "listening" to the internal state and noticing some malfunctioning of the body, but this state of the majority quickly passes. Another thing is the hypochondriac is a person who is sure that he is being killed by a serious or worse, incurable disease, and this depresses, disturbs and frightens him and, eventually, becomes manic. Talking with hypochondriacs is difficult: they are well-trained in medicine, as they regularly listen and watch programs on health topics, read medical literature. To convince them that they are not sick or the disease is not serious, it is very difficult.
Hypochondria - Causes
In ordinary life, it is commonly believed that hypochondria occurs against a background of anguish and depression. However, there are much more reasons for its appearance. It is believed that emotional, vulnerable, impressionable are more likely to affect the ailment. Among the hypochondriacs, the majority are elderly people, especially hypochondriacs and worried about their health, although there are teenagers and people of other ages. The main reasons for the appearance of hypochondria are:
- persistent anxiety and depressive conditions;
- not passing fears and neuroses;
- hypertrophied suspiciousness;
- unwillingness to accept your age (many elderly);
- problems in communication;
- chronic serious diseases;
- frequent illnesses in childhood, causing increased anxiety of parents;
- failures in the sexual plan.
A person suffering from this disease can experience attacks of hypochondria against the background of developing neuroses and depressions, oncological diseases, schizophrenic seizures and even a common cold. In this case, doctors take measures to treat the identified disease and reduce the destructive effect of psychotraumatic situations.
Hypochondria - symptoms and treatment
Like any other disease, the hypochondria has its own symptomatology, which determines the methods of treatment used to take into account the psychophysical state of the patient, his individual characteristics. Long-term illness can cause hypochondriacal disorders, aggravating the general depressed state, increasing suspicion and anxiety.
Hypochondria Symptoms
Even the possibility of getting sick causes the hypochondriac a constant worry. He can claim that he knows what is sick, but this conviction is constantly changing, as the "patient" discovers signs of one or another illness. If the fear concerns the heart, the work of the gastrointestinal tract, the brain or organs of reproduction, the doctors believe that they have a pure hypochondria. The disease has the following symptoms:
- complaints about poor health in the absence of problems;
- the perception of the ordinary state of health as painful;
- confidence in the presence of incurable diseases;
- The inability to convince a patient in the absence of a deadly disease;
- in especially severe cases - attempts at suicide, hallucinations.
Hypochondria - treatment
Treatment of hypochondria presents a certain difficulty, since the existing malaise of hypochondriacs is usually not associated with their mental state, but is perceived as the result of the action of a disease thought up by them, the symptoms of which they feel and even know how to treat it. However, despite the difficulty of communicating with the hypochondriac, the disease is treatable. At the same time to determine how to treat hypochondria, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist can, and the main goal is to change the thoughts and behavior habits.
Hypochondria - how to get rid yourself?
Doctors say that the disease can be cured on its own, if exactly follow the recommendations of a specialist, and medical treatment may not even be needed. To do this, it is enough to know the methods and techniques that allow you to understand how to get rid of hypochondria yourself, and apply them in practice, but - it is necessarily under control. The most effective are:
- work to eliminate fears;
- overcoming social isolation, determining their place in society;
- increasing self-esteem;
- practical consolidation of positive qualities and skills;
- keeping a diary with mastering the ability to analyze records;
- receptions of art therapy;
- breathing exercises;
- relaxation;
- yoga.
How to help the hypochondriac?
To provide practical help to a suffering hypochondria, you need to know for sure that you are not dealing with an ordinary whiner or a person with Munchausen syndrome who is inclined to feign illness. For the hypochondriac, the exaggeration of the symptoms of the allegedly discovered illness and the heightened concern about the state of one's health tend to exaggerate, so it must be provided not only by a medical specialist, but also by close family members. They need to know how to live with a hypochondriac to help him fight the disease.
Often in the desire to help relatives too take care of the patient, thereby aggravating his condition and increasing his suspiciousness. Experts recommend taking a different, more effective behavior in the family:
- to involve the hypochondriac to house affairs;
- expand the circle of communication with people with positive thinking and diverse interests;
- attention to the allegations of diseases, taking them seriously;
- Do not discuss the problems of health, life and death in the presence of a hypochondriac;
- to minimize the possibility of watching TV programs about health;
- help find an interesting lesson that will improve mood;
- Do not scold the hypochondriac, do not brush off conversations with him, do not get irritated;
- provide the opportunity to take care of other family members or pets.