Health anxiety: Part 1 – concept, prevalence and management

Many psychiatrists are unaware of the nature of health anxiety and its significance to the morbidity and behaviour of people who suffer from it. This is because most of these patients are convinced that the answers to their problems are in the hands of general doctors and so consult them widely.

However, treatments are now available that all doctors can give, and these are explored in Health anxiety: Part 2 – cognitive-behavioural therapy.

This first module shows how health anxiety is often hidden in practice, how it develops and is maintained, and how it can be detected, as well as giving some details of its prevalence.