The term cyberchondria is used to explain hypochondria or illness anxiety disorder in our current technological landscape. Illness Anxiety has the potential to be exacerbated with easy access to technology. When people with illness and anxiety are concerned about their symptoms they can easily research the symptoms and potential disorders and are very often overwhelmed by the amount and the nature of the information. This is particularly pronounced during COVID-19 when new information on the disease and symptoms is easily available on the internet. 

New York University

Hypochondriasis, commonly known as hypochondria was considered a disorder where an individual believes that they have illnesses or symptoms of diseases, even when they did not. It caused anxiety and distress for patients, and potentially impeded their day-to-day functioning. However, in the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), hypochondria itself was declassified as a separate disorder and instead was considered a symptom or manifestation that occurred in two different disorders. Certain characteristic features of hypochondriasis were classified under Illness Anxiety Disorder and more severe manifestations under Somatic Symptom Disorder. These disorders are both largely characterized by the preoccupation over certain undiagnosed or unexplained symptoms that persist in the individual. 

Hypochondriasis 

Rivera, R. M., &amp; Carballea, D. (2020). Coronavirus: A trigger for OCD and illness anxiety disorder? Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1). https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000725 

 Coronavirus: A trigger for OCD and illness anxiety disorder

Newby, J. M., Hobbs, M. J., Mahoney, A. E. J., Wong, S. (K., &amp; Andrews, G. (2017, July 23). DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder: Comorbidity, correlates, and overlap with DSM-IV hypochondriasis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399917307201?casa_token=BT8X_Jp3rlcAAAAA%3AMdA2qtqdUT4_k5MQoPrMM8x9bzZY-FLQfPBpWQp76OJAoYiHMsokhLuJsP-6aGGaAGIqFidK 

DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder

Chappel, A. (n.d.). Toward a Lifestyle Medicine Approach to Illness Anxiety Disorder (Formerly Hypochondriasis). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1559827618764649?casa_token=fo_C6Nu_1NgAAAAA%3ATsT1fWeBA10OM279_cF24uSXGx1qNM23vrKV-TSpRZUujyN0UOtyNyZP22q_dEv6fz6Pa4SjhOMjQg. 

Toward a Lifestyle Medicine Approach to Illness Anxiety Disorder (Formerly Hypochondriasis)

Harding, K. J., Skritskaya, N., Doherty, E., &amp; Fallon, B. A. (2008). Advances in understanding illness anxiety. Current Psychiatry Reports, 10(4), 311–317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-008-0050-1 

Advances in understanding illness anxiety


Illness Anxiety Disorder  (IAD) is a disorder, colloquially or previously referred to as hypochondria, where individuals experience stress and anxiousness about having an illness or pre-empting an illness that they have not been diagnosed with.  his can range from stressing about having certain symptoms to being keenly aware of any sensations that can link to the illness (however normal they may be) or investing time and effort trying to understand potential health concerns. Even when people do not have any illness and are told so by medical professionals, if they have IAD they are likely to continue to feel anxious. 

Illness Anxiety Disorder

Somatic Symptom Disorder is a severe form of the phenomenon colloquially referred to as hypochondriasis, where an individual is anxious about and concerned about somatic symptoms. Somatic symptoms are symptoms that are not linked to a medical condition which the patients tend to focus on but can cause stress anxiousness and even physical pain. They tend to seek out healthcare services for these symptoms which can rarely assuage their concerns. 

Somatic Symptom Disorder 

Cyberchondria

Ever since COVID-19, people with health anxiety are likely to experience more enhanced symptoms of the disorder. They are likely to experience stress about developing COVID-19 symptoms or interpret their normal sensations as being related to the onset of COVID. This is particularly dangerous with a relatively new infection like COVID since a lot of information and studies are not concrete as they are still being developed. Long-term research on COVID is not easily available so the reliability of the information that the person with health anxiety is consuming comes into question. During the pandemic, there is also an emphasis on certain behaviors like cleaning, sanitizing, and checking biomarkers which may become a part of the daily lives of such individuals. Given that paranoia during the pandemic is normal, it is harder to notice the difference between people who are actually suffering from health anxiety. However, as the pandemic subsides the risk of infection, re-infection and long-term will still persist and that’s where one can trace the level of stress and anxiety to someone  with a chronic disorder.

COVID-19 and Health Anxiety 

In the DSM-5, the diagnosis of hypochondriasis (i.e., health anxiety) was replaced by two new diagnostic entities. Both diagnoses share high health anxiety as a common criterion. 
- Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD)
- Illness Anxiety Disorder (IAD) 

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