Recently, the Saviocycologist email inbox received the following message from listener James.

I have a fear of having or developing an illness, not necessarily dying, but the fear that

maybe someday I will be diagnosed with a disabling illness.

I spend a lot of time on WebMD researching illnesses that I'm convinced I have.

Well, James, it sounds like you might be describing illness and anxiety disorder.

Welcome back to the Saviocycologist. I'm your host, Dr. Monica Johnson.

Every week on this show, I'll help you face life's challenges with evidence-based approaches,

a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Illness and anxiety disorder, or IAD for short, may not be familiar to you, but here's a word which

may be hypochondriac. Hypochondriasis used to be a medical diagnosis, but has since been split

into two new diagnoses, somatic symptom disorder, and illness and anxiety disorder. We will focus on

the latter as it relates to James' question. So, what is illness and anxiety disorder?

According to the DSM-5, aka the Bible of Psychological Diagnoses,

illness and anxiety disorder is defined by the following symptoms.

One, a preoccupation with having or developing a debilitating or life-threatening illness.

Two, the patient doesn't actually have any physical symptoms, or if they do their mild.

If a medical condition is present, or the patient is high risk for developing a medical condition,

their anxiety about it reaches epic proportions.

Three, typically people with IAD are either care-seeking, that is frequently performing

health checks and going to the doctor, or care-avoidant. They avoid doctors appointments entirely

for fear of what they might learn. And in my experience, it's quite normal for people to go

between being care-seeking and care-avoidant. Now, I want to speak more about what this might look

...