Health Anxiety - A Case Study

Andrew had breast cancer two years ago and was successfully treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Despite being given the all clear by his specialist he worried extensively about his health. He would constantly check and recheck himself, he would visit his GP almost weekly complaining of any slight symptom. His GP checked him, his blood and ran numerous checks which all came back normal. Still Andrew worried about his health. This started to have a negative effect on his relationship with his wife and three daughters. He spent so much time on himself his work also began to suffer. His health anxiety became all consuming. After his wife discussed her concerns with him, he sought help. Together we explored his thoughts and feelings about his recent illness and how this impacted on his current behaviour and worries. We created a series of thought challenges and behavioural experiments to help tackle his health anxiety. After 6 sessions our work was done and he returned to viewing his life with a much more balanced view of his health and more control over his worries.