Hypochondria is a disorder which causes you to worry obsessively over your health. This obsessive worrying over if you are ill often means you will experience symptoms which are not real or exaggerate real symptoms which can then lead to anxiety and depression. Hypochondriacs often have an extreme fear of suffering from serious illnesses, they are wildly exaggerate when they see their doctor, and if this situation persists for a long time, it will negatively affect their personal relationships and their job. At OneHowto, we will give you some tips on how to deal with hypochondriacs.
Dealing with a hypochondriac is difficult because they believe that they are constantly struggling with a disease, even if it is actually all in their imagination. We have to be very patient, although tolerating this constant stream of symptoms is very frustrating.
Listen. A person who is suffering from hypochondria needs to talk about it, even if it is all in their head. It is likely that you heard about it before and you know enough to realise that it isn't real but you should still hear them out. Try to seem interested.
You should support them, but do not show too much concern. Stay neutral in your answers to avoid them further obsessing over their imaginary illness.
Be understanding and show that you empathise with their situation. Reassure them that you understand their pain and anxiety, without encouraging their obsessive thoughts.
The internet is a big factor in this condition, fuelling hypochondriacs in their obsession by researching their alleged symptoms, which results in the cyberchondria. The internet makes it possible for people with this condition to self-diagnose by researching their symptoms. If you trust this person, tell them clearly that it is very bad for their health to jump to conclusions from what they have looked up online.
Convince the person to see a doctor as soon as possible to clear his or her doubts. Accompany the person if you can and make the hypochondriac person realize the situation isn't so bad.
If the person frequently goes to the doctor for any kind of reason, the doctor will already know how to deal with a hypochondriac person.
Try distracting the person by doing activities with them if they continue to think they have some kind of illness or lesion even after they've visited a doctor. Get the person's mind on to something else so he/she doesn't obsess.
If you need more advice you can also take a look at the following article: how to help a hypochondriac.
This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis. We invite you to visit your doctor if you have any type of condition or pain.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Deal with a Hypochondriac, we recommend you visit our Mental health category.