The Psychological Mechanism Behind Health Anxiety

The persistence of health anxiety, despite reassurance from medical professionals, can be partly explained through a psychological mechanism similar to classical conditioning. For example, an individual might experience a benign physical sensation, like a heartbeat.

If they associate that sensation with the fear of a heart attack, over time, just feeling their heartbeat can trigger significant anxiety about having a heart condition. This conditioning process means that the physical sensation becomes a conditioned stimulus, triggering a conditioned response (health anxiety).