Tackling Health Anxiety

This straightforward book explains how to deliver cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for health anxiety in ordinary practice. Health anxiety is very common but it is often undetected, especially in medical settings where people are constantly looking for evidence of physical disease. The problem is that many people with this condition are more concerned with further tests and investigations to exclude physical illness than with addressing their own worries over health. The introduction of psychological treatment has to be handled sensitively if it is going to be successful. This book shows how it can be done. All clinicians - from nurses working in general practice, to consultant physicians - will recognise the scenarios Dr Tyrer uses to illustrate her practical approach to alleviating the distress felt by so many patients. All clinicians will value the time they can save by tackling their patients' health anxiety. This will be useful for liaison psychiatrists and, to some extent, for all healthcare professionals - especially general practitioners and nurses in primary care.