MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'health anxiety'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:40:53 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028851&cid=t_291422_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FeQAr3441zXw%2F According to a new study, the U.S. ranked 11th on a list of the most stressed-out nations (ironically far behind the number one India, a place where anti-stressing yoga has its origin). That’s the good news. The bad news is: Experts are now telling us to quit babbling about it, which is funny because all these years we have been encouraged to talk about our feelings because it was supposedly the healthy, mature thing to do (even though a bottle of wine and a 14th viewing of When Harry Met Sally would have done the trick sometimes). But apparently, venting about the stress in our lives to our best girls is not the way to cope with our stress. I, for one, am glad to hear that because nothing ruins a girls’ night out more than someone sitting there ranting about her jerk of a boss... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028851 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:59:27 +0100 5028851 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872337&cid=t_291422_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FFN-w4diRYYI%2F Have you ever wished you could swallow a pill and forget all about your past? We haven’t, but it turns out researchers have: University of Montreal researchers say that the drug metyrapone, which reduces the stress hormone cortisol, can effectively block bad memories, therefore alleviating the negative emotions that come with them. Sounds a little scary to us, but for patients who’ve suffered traumatic events that cause significant anxiety or depression, it could be a Godsend. Researchers say that when we recall a negative or traumatic event, we actually re-write it into our memory; administering metyrapone close to the time of re-forming the memory can alter — or erase — our perception of the past. Sonia Lupien, Ph.D., who directed the study, explains: The results show tha... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872337 Fri, 27 May 2011 16:14:40 +0100 4872337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4040626&cid=t_291422_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fmanaging-your-anxiety-before-ivf.html While most patients can handle the medical bits and bobs of an IVF treatment cycle quite easily, dealing with the anxiety which an IVF cycle involves can be very challenging.I just saw a 38 year old patient who had a low AMH level. She had been advised IVF, and wanted a second opinion as to whether this was a good option for her.Given her advanced age and her low AMH level, I told her that she had reached the oopause. I agreed that she needed IVF, because time was at a premium for her.When I said this, she because very agitated. I did my best to try to calm her down, but she seemed to get even more anxious." What are you worried about ? Pain ? side effects ? the expense ? "" No, doctor, I am worried that I am now too old. I know that my low AMH level means my eggs are poor quality, and tha... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4040626 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 02:01:00 +0100 4040626 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3858433&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F12%2Fwhat-do-people-with-chronic-pain-health-anxiety-worry-about%2F This study by Tang and colleagues took a group of 60 patients with chronic pain attending a pain management centre, half of whom had high health anxiety and half with low health anxiety.  They conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with these patients, and looked at how much the cognitive, affective, physiological and behavioural responses described by the participants were consistent with the predictions of the health anxiety model. The groups were distinguished in terms of health anxiety by their responses on the Short Health Anxiety Inventory, a popular tool for assessing clinically significant health anxiety.  The high health anxiety group all scored well above 18, the cut-off score for Health Anxiety, while the low health anxious group didn’t reach this cut-off at all. ... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3858433 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:31:20 +0100 3858433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3854774&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F11%2Fis-reassurance-reassuring%2F Having started yesterday’s post by discussing health anxiety, and pointing out that one of the things people do to cope with their anxiety about their pain is to seek reassurance, I thought it might be useful to go back to a paper published a couple of years ago by Linton, McCracken & Vlaeyen (2008).  In this paper, the authors reviewed the concept of reassurance and see whether it is, in fact, reassuring. What is reassurance anyway? We talk about it as if we know what we mean, and it’s even part of most guidelines for managing acute low back pain – but what is it? In this paper, the authors refer to the Oxford dictionary definition where reassurance is defined as ‘‘. . .removes the fears or doubts of (pain/illness); to comfort’’. As they point out, “Re... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3854774 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:43:41 +0100 3854774 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3444004&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F07%2Fpain-and-health-anxiety-working-with-beliefs%2F Over the past few posts I’ve been looking at pain and health anxiety, and how anxiety about body symptoms can be misinterpreted to represent something sinister when it may be a reflection of the level of physiological arousal in the individual. In fact, one definition of anxiety is ‘over-estimating the threat’ while ‘under-estimating the resources to cope with the threat’. I really like Salkovskis statement ‘People suffer from anxiety because they think situations as more dangerous than they really are’, and ‘Treatment helps the person to consider alternative, less threatening explanations of their problem’. These explanations have to fit with past experiences of the person – and work when they’re tested out. The process of ... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3444004 Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:13:41 +0100 3444004 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3429471&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F01%2Fhealth-anxiety-chronic-pain-ways-to-work-with-worried-people%2F There are many strategies to use when working with someone who is really anxious and worried that their pain is something nasty, and becomes hypervigilant to symptoms that are actually physiological arousal, or symptoms of anxiety. The first practical thing to do is take the time to listen and understand what the person thinks his or her symptoms indicate. Sounds easy, right?  But as people with persistent pain say time and again, very few clinicians go beyond asking for a description of symptoms, and few ask about the conclusions the person has drawn from both symptoms and bits of information they’ve heard (or misheard) from the various health providers they’ve seen (or even the internet sites they’ve been on, or books they’ve read). How could you do this? One way... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3429471 Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:36:17 +0100 3429471 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3425148&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F31%2Fhealth-anxiety-chronic-pain%2F Yesterday’s post about ‘hypochondria’ and chronic pain created a bit of a storm.  Emotions run high when you have chronic pain and someone somewhere suggests (a) that it’s ‘all in your head’   or (b) you’re just being a ‘hypochondriac’.  There are loads of reasons why both of those comments are inaccurate and unhelpful, but as I said yesterday, there is also a lot of research suggesting that health anxiety might play quite a big part in increasing the distress and disability associated with having persistent pain, and maintaining both. How would you know if you, or a patient you were seeing, was anxious about his or her health? You know I’m going to say there is no black and white answer to this one, don’t you?! Anxiety ... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3425148 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:12:49 +0100 3425148 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3420776&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F30%2Fyoure-just-being-a-hypochondriac-health-anxiety-chronic-pain%2F I think that label has to be one of the most feared amongst the people I see with chronic pain.  To be judged as being obsessed about nonexistant illnesses when actually having pain every day must be incredibly difficult to cope with.  At the same time, being anxious about health and having mistaken beliefs about the meaning of symptoms can be part of both having chronic pain and having health anxiety (the condition previously known as hypochondriasis).  And the temptation some health providers have to say “Oh just go and pull yourself together and stop worrying”  is both unhelpful and part of the problem! I’ve been reading about health anxiety as I look at ways to identify and work with people who are fearful of experiencing pain while at the same time have been told... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3420776 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:35:56 +0100 3420776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2820618&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F22%2Fmore-on-anxiety-and-pain-pain-related-anxiety%2F It seems obvious that something unpleasant is something to be avoided – and if we’re meant to avoid it, we’re likely to be just a little bit afraid of it. Yesterday I talked about health anxiety in general, and today I want to touch on a specific sub-group of health anxiety – pain-related anxiety. Many people will be familiar with pain-related anxiety and avoidance, the model of so-called ‘fear avoidance’ that is a compelling explanation for how so many people become deactivated and disabled when they have persistent pain. It might be a surprise to some that the term ‘fear avoidance’ is actually not technically correct! There are two parts to the phenomenon: fear (or really, pain anxiety) and avoidance. It’s possible to be fearful or an... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2820618 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:37:13 +0100 2820618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2814753&cid=t_291422_165_f&fid=37959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthskills.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2F21%2Fhealth-anxiety%2F We used to call it hypochondriasis – and that’s a term loaded with unhelpful meanings if ever there was one!  What hypochondriasis meant was ‘it’s in your head, there’s nothing wrong with you, go away and pull yourself together’.  Ask someone who has had an episode of noncardiac chest pain to ‘go away and pull yourself together’! The definition of heath anxiety is: - preoccupation with, and fear of developing or having a serious illness - it persists despite medical reassurance - this worry interferes with everyday life - it’s been going on for 6 months or so Health anxiety is about misinterpreting body sensations and changes and thinking that they are evidence of underlying serious illness – despite reassurance and lack of conf... HealthSkills Weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2814753 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:21:10 +0100 2814753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2211489&cid=t_291422_117_f&fid=36026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Fzimney-health-and-medical-news-you-can-use%2Fpostpartum-blues-and-depression%2F Everyone expects the postpartum period to be a joyful happy time welcoming the newborn home and into the family. Unfortunately, however, many women will experience either short or long-term mood disturbances in the year after giving birth. In fact, at least 40-80 percent of women experience postpartum blues, which is a short-term, transient condition characterized by mild, but often rapid, mood swings from elation to sadness, accompanied by tearfulness, crying spells, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and insomnia. Symptoms typically peak on the fifth postpartum day, and fortunately usually resolve within two weeks without treatment other than support and reassurance. It is important for women experiencing the blues to get adequate rest and sleep, which may require additiona... Dr. Z's Medical Report blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2211489 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:04:51 +0100 2211489 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2113351&cid=t_291422_140_f&fid=35433&url=http%3A%2F%2F4thavenueblues.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fspecial-recipes.html There was the unmistakable smell of my grandfather's special recipe barbeque sauce simmering on the stove.   I had just driven over to my parent's house to get some sodas.  My stomach immediately started grumbling.  "Look in the slow cooker," Dad said, turning his attention to stirring the sauce. "Pork butt!" I exclaimed with wide looking eyes. "Come back over around two and we will eat." We then took my medications.  Dad was standing outside in the cool air in his pajamas as he got today's dosage out of his car. "Now you have to stay with me for 30 minutes," he said. "I don't want you throwing them up." It was scary driving today.  I really shouldn't be driving until I get more stable.  I keep having the... The 4th Avenue Blues blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2113351 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:58:00 +0100 2113351