According to a trial done by Harvard Medical School—among other clinical studies—cognitive behavioral therapy can be an effective treatment for hypochondria. [1]

• CBT is neither psychoanalysis, nor traditional "talk therapy": there is no exhaustive review of your childhood. Instead, it is set of tools designed to interrupt your pattern of checking and re-checking for symptoms of diseases you do not have.

• CBT is used for the treatment of hypochondria, along with other anxiety disorders categorized as part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum.

• If you have a regular physician, psychologist or psychotherapist, your best bet might be to ask him or her for a referral to a doctor who practices cognitive-behavioral therapy.
  • Hypochondria is considered to be part of the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders. The following sites contain listings of therapists nationwide who treat these disorders:
    • Geonius.com
    • OCFoundation.org
  • If you do call any of the offices listed on these sites—and you are interested in treating your hypochondriasis with CBT—be sure to ask whether this treatment is offered at the facility.

• One component of CBT that you can try on your own is an alternative thought record. A thought record is a kind of psychological journal that may help you to view your alarming thoughts more objectively.

1. Get a durable, spiral bound journal that's small enough to carry in your pocket.
2. Whenever you have a frightening thought about illness, take out your journal and jot it down.
3. Note the situation in which your thought came up.
4. Note the emotion that accompanies the thought.
5. Write down the thought in all its extremity, no matter how embarrassing it is.
6. Now, figuratvely "step back" and write a more realistic alternative thought.

• Just getting these things down on paper can provide some relief. The longer you let an irrational thought ricochet around your head with no outlet, the stronger it can get.

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• Hypochondria bears a strong component of anxiety, and mounting evidence shows that regular exercise can ease anxiety. A paper published by the Department of Health and Human Services concludes, "We now have evidence to support the claim that exercise is related to positive mental health as indicated by relief in symptoms of depression and anxiety."^[1]

1. If your life is mainly sedentary, don't jump into a high intensity routine. As advised by the Mayo Clinic's article on exercising to relieve depression and anxiety, "Tailor your plan to your own needs and abilities rather than trying to meet idealistic guidelines that could just add to your pressure."^[2] Try one of the following:
   • Walking: For a daily routine, try a brisk 15-minute walk to start.
   • Bicycling: If it's possible, make a resolution to bike to work, or just to the store—anything that establishes a regular routine will be a step in the right direction.
   • Swimming: Join a gym or public pool and don't mind the Olympic-bound swimmer in the next lane; swim half a lap and rest as long as necessary.
2. Consult Mahalo's how to pick a cardio exercise for some more detailed exercise routines, both high and low intensity.

• So many people use online medical sites to diagnose themselves that the term Cyberchondria has entered the lexicon. If you have hypochodriacal tendencies, these sites can be far more harmful than good for you.

• You know how it works. After a few searches on Medline, your sinus headache turns out to be a migraine, then a brain tumor. If going online isn't crucial for your livelihood, just quit for a while and tell friends and family to reach you by phone for the time being.
  • After a few weeks, or however long it takes for your anxiety to diminish, ease back yourself back onto the net.
  • Take baby steps in your return to cyberspace. First restrict yourself to email for a week, then start accessing other sites, but make a resolution to avoid the sites that made you a cyberchondriac in the first place.

• If staying off the net for an extended period is impossible or impractical, try the following less drastic measures:
  1. Restrict your time online to a set period of time.
  2. Restrict yourself to email and entertainment or news sites.
  3. If you have the temptation to look up a perceived symptom, turn off the computer and engross yourself in a book or movie.
  4. For each day that you avoid medical sites, reward yourself with something you enjoy.

• In the past, meditation was often dismissed by the medical profession as a hippie affectation or worse. Major healthcare providers such as Kaiser Permanente, however, now offer meditation as a complementary treatment for many forms of anxiety and depression.^[1]

1. Read Mahalo's guide to how to meditate
2. Try reading Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn, or another guide to mindfulness meditation.
   • Mindfulness is a Buddhist-influenced technique for experiencing the present moment without worrying about the future or regretting the past.
   • For a disorder like hypochondria, which is based on worry, mindfulness meditation has obvious potential.