Health anxiety
Script for Disclosing Health Anxiety Concerns to a Doctor
Client avoids disclosing anxiety symptoms to their physician, fearing judgment or dismissal, and so medical assessment remains incomplete.
Many clients with health anxiety fear that telling their doctor about worries and reassurance-seeking will result in dismissal, judgment, or excessive testing. This gap between what the doctor knows and what the client actually experiences means the clinician cannot offer informed care, and the client’s anxiety symptoms go unnamed and untreated.
This directive walks the client through what to say to their doctor: how to name both physical symptoms and the anxiety story, when to mention therapy, and how to ask specifically for what they need without justifying or over-explaining.
Script for Disclosing Health Anxiety Concerns to a Doctor
Before your next appointment, write down three things: (1) one physical symptom you are experiencing, (2) one worry or thought pattern that comes with it, (3) one question about what would help. Do not edit these. Write them in short sentences.
At your appointment, show them to your doctor or read them aloud. You might say: “I want to be thorough about my health. I have been experiencing [symptom]. I notice I worry about [concern]. I am working with a therapist on this anxiety. What I need to know is [question].”
Notice what you feel while you are speaking. You do not need to convince your doctor. You are providing information. If your doctor asks follow-up questions, answer directly. You do not need to apologize for the anxiety.
After the appointment, write down what happened: what your doctor said, what relief or disappointment you felt, and what you learned about yourself in the conversation. This is the data. Not the reassurance. The data.
Generated with Rapport7 — rapport7.com