What are Safety Behaviors?

Death anxiety is transdiagnostic, meaning that it is present in a variety of psychological disorders. Death anxiety is commonly experienced by those with health anxiety. Sure, people have a variety of reasons for experiencing health anxiety. But after I do a bit of digging with my clients, many of them realize that their health anxiety stems, at least in part, from a fear of death. 

If you have health anxiety, you likely seek reassurance about your health-related concerns from doctors and/or loved ones. In other words, you repeatedly seek the simple reassuring message that there is nothing wrong with your health. Do you think this mole looks suspicious? Should I be worried about this headache? 

Your colleague gets a compliment about the quality of her work. A guy at a bar mentions how pretty your friend is. You overhear your mom telling your sister how smart she is. You know these things are normal and that everyone deserves to be praised. But for some reason, these types of situations sting. Maybe a little more than they should.