1. Find a Doctor You Can Trust
If you feel like you're suffering from hypochondria, or an irrational fear of becoming sick or contracting a disease, you'll need to find a doctor whom you can trust. Nothing feeds hypochondria more than habitual "doctor-shopping," or trying to find health care professionals who can confirm your worst fears about your physical condition. A doctor who has been treating you for many years knows your body, your medical history and--most importantly--your hypochondria. That doctor also knows the best way to treat you and your fears and can prevent your hypochondria from escalating.
2. Be Honest With Small Children About Health Issues
Studies on hypochondria have shown that these fears and phobias can be learned when small children develop irrational fears of diseases and sicknesses. If you have small children and you have to deal with a serious illness or medical condition in your family, be honest and direct with them, and avoid any unrealistic stories about how the disease was contracted, such as, "Your grandmother has cancer because she didn't eat her vegetables when she was your age." By answering your children's questions honestly, you can prevent them from developing hypochondria as they become adults.
3. Avoid the Internet or Medical Reference Books
Medical students often joke about recognizing symptoms in their own bodies as they research and learn about certain diseases and disorders. Many serious diseases start off with common symptoms such as headaches and sore throats, but just because you are experiencing these symptoms doesn't mean that you are going to die.
Internet health sites and medical guides are designed for the objective diagnosis of certain conditions. If you are a hypochondriac, however, these resources will only worsen your fears about your own physical condition. By feeding these fears and phobias voluntarily, you are only raising your stress levels, which in turn can cause psychosomatic illnesses. In other words, you can prevent hypochondria by giving yourself a break and staying away from these resources.
