Phobias have been associated with humankind since the very beginning of time, some

acknowledged, some laughed at and a very few with actual treatment .However in recent times

psychologists and researchers have illuminated us with the actual causes of all the various kinds

of phobias people encounter with in their daily life with the endless striving to cure them of their

paranoia and try to help them live life fear free. The various kinds of physiological disorders like

the fast beating of the heart, the sweating of palms, to shaking tremendously all have their root

cause in some difficult psychological factor which if unsorted may lead to sever panic attacks

and result in untoward events of varying complexities. Whether or not there exists any rationality

to the fear is a completely different issue, but there can be no denying the fact fear is definitely

not good to sustain a healthy life. Phobias are found to differ significantly among individuals

with varying degrees of severity. While some people they tend to simply avoid the subject that

induces fear within their system and suffer from mild anxiety, in others it might be a full-fledged

panic attack. Without proper counseling diagnosis, and psychiatric treatment it at times is

extremely difficult for these people to restore their normal balance.

One of the very common of such phobias is Hypochondriasis. In hypochondriasis patients firmly

believe or live on the suspicion that they suffer from something, mostly a disease which is of a

very serious nature. Often since minor symptoms of some order augment this, their concerns rise

despite reassurances by qualified physicians and surgeons. Often it has been found that these

patients become bed bound not by the actual illness but from the very fear of it. Hypochondriasis

is found to occur in both males and females equally.

In many instances the very fear of illness is found to disrupt social, occupational and family

functioning. It is also found to moreover persist despite the best medical evaluation and

reassurances of good health. Often it has been found that the patients preoccupation is often

based on symptoms such as 1) certain specific body functions like that of swollen lymph nodes

and vestibular sensations2)Physical abnormalities which aren’t very dangerous medically ,like

that of a small sore, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome etc.3)Various vague physical

conditions that patients tend to refre as “tired lungs” or “foggy brains”. These kinds of fears are

often found to be followed up with activities that basically can be adjourned as safety behavior,

targeted to reduce fear which appear to normal people as repetitive abnormal behavior.

. Obtain a list of the bodily signs,sensations, perturbations, and variations that trigger episodes of

health anxiety.Signs and sensations might be internal, but can also be associated with theskin,

hair, or products that are expelled from the body. Questions to elicit thisinformation include:•

Which bodily symptoms are you concerned with?• What kinds of symptoms provoke concerns

about your health?In addition, the patient can be asked to record the incidence of each

fearedsensation for one week, including symptom severity and the situation in whichit occurred.

A monitoring form for this use appears in Appendix 2. For somendividuals, the feared sensations

will be circumscribed around a particularregion of the body (e.g., abdomen), organ system (e.g.,

digestive), or bodilyfunction (e.g., swallowing). For others, feared sensations might be

diverse.Regardless, this structured self-monitoring will provide the therapist and patientwith

invaluable assessment information.

Case study: Greg started on his own to develop several kinds of precautionary or safety

behaviors that he believed would certainly reduce the risk associated with the condition he feared

to have developed .He firstly had moved his home from Florida to Rochester ,so that he can stay

close to Mayo clinic ,which he believed to be the only place that could detect with accuracy and

be the savior from the heart problem he suspected himself to have .He also needed his fiancée

Jody to accompany him at all times in case he urgently needed to relocated to the hospital for

some emergency. He decided to do away with any kind of physical exertion which in turn would

strain his delicate heart and thereby abstained himself from all the different kinds of physical

activities that he previously enjoyed indulging in like cycling, jogging ,basketball and biking. He

also used a portable heart monitor for checking his heart rate and blood pressure, so that he could

be sure of himself. Greg had been assured and reassured by several physicians that the symptoms

he was worried of were not that serious .