16 questions covering symptom checking, illness worry, reassurance seeking and avoidance. Find out if health anxiety may be shaping how you interpret your body and your life.
Start the Free TestHealth anxiety is a pattern of persistent, excessive worry about having or developing a serious illness. People with health anxiety often notice normal bodily sensations, a heartbeat, a tight muscle, a fleeting headache, and interpret them as symptoms of something dangerous. The more they focus on these sensations, the more intense they feel, which appears to confirm the fear.
Unlike general anxiety, which tends to jump between many worries, health anxiety tends to fixate on the body. If you want to understand your overall anxiety levels, the free anxiety level test covers a broader range of anxiety patterns including worry, panic and overthinking.
Some attention to your health is normal and healthy. At this level, health concerns do not appear to be significantly disrupting your life or thinking.
Health anxiety may be taking a noticeable toll on your peace of mind, your time and your ability to trust your body. The worry is real, and it deserves attention.
Health anxiety may be significantly affecting your quality of life, your relationships and your ability to feel safe in your own body. This level responds very well to the right therapeutic support and does not have to be permanent.
Health anxiety is a persistent pattern of excessive worry about having or developing a serious illness, often despite normal test results and medical reassurance. It involves body checking, symptom searching and reassurance seeking that provides only temporary relief.
Yes. Health anxiety is the modern clinical term for what was previously called hypochondria. The underlying experience is the same, persistent illness worry that does not respond to reassurance.
Yes. Health anxiety can produce genuine physical sensations including palpitations, chest tightness, dizziness and nausea. These are caused by anxiety, not illness, but they feel completely real and often get misinterpreted as confirmation of the feared condition.
Yes. Health anxiety is one of the most successfully treated anxiety conditions. Therapy helps you understand why reassurance seeking maintains the worry, and how to respond to symptoms and fears in ways that reduce anxiety rather than reinforce it.
The anxiety level test measures overall anxiety severity. This test focuses specifically on health-related worry patterns, body checking, reassurance seeking and illness fear. If panic attacks are part of your experience, the Panic Attack SOS Card also provides a personalised crisis plan.