Anxiety
Health Anxiety Symptom Re-Appraisal Grid
This tool helps a client challenge catastrophic interpretations of benign physical sensations.
For the client with persistent health anxiety, the body becomes a source of constant threat. Benign sensations, a brief dizzy spell, a random ache, a skipped heartbeat, are immediately filtered through a lens of catastrophe. This hypervigilance not only fuels the anxiety but also reinforces the belief that something is medically wrong, even after repeated reassurance from doctors.
This directive creates a structured process for generating and weighing alternative, mundane explanations for physical symptoms against the initial catastrophic one. It builds the client’s capacity for cognitive flexibility in the moment of panic, providing a concrete skill for down-regulating their own fear response.
Health Anxiety Symptom Re-Appraisal Grid
Each time you experience a physical sensation that triggers a worry about your health, document it in this grid. Complete one row for each event as soon as possible after it happens. Describe the physical feeling and the context. Write down your immediate fear about what it means. Then, list facts and past experiences that do not support that fear. Finally, write a different, less alarming explanation for the sensation.
| Physical Sensation & Situation | Initial Fear (What I think it means) | Factual Evidence Against This Fear | A More Likely Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
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