If there was ever a moment to take a deep breath and relax, it’s now.
A new study has found that it is, indeed, very possible for hypochondriacs to worry themselves to the point of ill health.
The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, collected data from more than 7,000 Norwegians born in the 1950’s over 12 years; the participants answered questionnaires, were physically tested and measured on a health anxiety scale.
“Health anxiety is a specific type of anxiety characterised by preoccupation of having, acquiring or possibly avoiding illness,” the study suggests.
Over the course of the study period, 234 people suffered a heart attack or an acute bout of angina by 2009, but those who were consistently worried about their health or ‘worried well’, were 73 per cent more likely to go on to develop heart disease than those who took the relaxed approach.
“These findings illustrate the dilemma for clinicians between reassuring the patient that current physical symptoms of anxiety do not represent heart disease, contrasted against the emerging knowledge on how anxiety, over time, may be causally associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease,” wrote the researchers.
“[Our findings] indicate that characteristic behaviour among persons with health anxiety, such as monitoring and frequent check-ups of symptoms, does not reduce the risk of [coronary heart disease] events,” they added.
The scientists also noted similar symptoms in anxiety disorders to those of heart disease. Chest discomfort, palpitations, nausea, sweating and rapid breathing were among a few of these, which may have triggered those with health anxiety to worry that their symptoms were something more sinister.
And while one might assume that the ‘worried well’ may live healthier lives with exercise, regular check-ups and healthy habits compared to those who go about their day without a care, the researchers actually found the opposite.
Participants with higher levels of health anxiety reported less hours of hard physical activity per week, and on top of that, those in this group also had a higher prevalence of smoking.
The scientists hypothesise that a lack of physical exercise “could possibly be explained by fear of forcing or putting strain on the body,” while they speculate “that smoking can be used as a tranquillizer in an attempt to relieve tension.”
If you, like many Australians who cite health worries as a reason to lie awake at night, find yourself agonising over Googled symptoms, then Line Iden Berge, researcher at the University of Bergen and Sandviken University Hospital in Norway has some advice for you.
“There is a saying in the way we treat these people in the clinic: it’s not dangerous, it’s just anxiety, keep on living your life!”
Do you fear you’re worrying yourself sick? Book in an appointment with with your trusted GP today.
