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Exposure in the Context of Health Anxiety: Considerations for Assessment, Case Conceptualization, and Intervention

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Clinical Guide to Exposure Therapy

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Abstract

Health anxiety is a term used to describe a multidimensional presentation of health preoccupation and distress. Major components of health anxiety include health-related worry, the presence and fear of bodily sensations and changes, overestimating the likelihood and cost of illness, and safety behaviors. Health anxiety within the current diagnostic classification system is a criterion for two psychological disorders: illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder. These two disorders differ in important ways, and the presence of a general medical condition does not necessarily preclude the diagnosis of either. As such, treatment providers need to be attentive to various potential components and presentations of health anxiety. This chapter presents a perspective that health anxiety is the result of nonadaptive attempts to cope with health-related uncertainty. Considerations of this perspective for assessment, case conceptualization, and intervention are discussed. Exposure-based techniques for targeting health-related worry, safety behaviors, and the fear of bodily sensations and changes are emphasized. This chapter concludes with a case example of severe health anxiety.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

    Thomas A. Fergus

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Steven Taylor

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    Gordon J. G. Asmundson

Authors
  1. Thomas A. Fergus
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  2. Steven Taylor
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  3. Gordon J. G. Asmundson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gordon J. G. Asmundson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Institute for Mental Health Research, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Jasper A. J. Smits

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Jolene Jacquart

  3. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Jonathan Abramowitz

  4. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Joanna Arch

  5. Mental Health Research & Treatment Centre, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Jürgen Margraf

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Fergus, T.A., Taylor, S., Asmundson, G.J.G. (2022). Exposure in the Context of Health Anxiety: Considerations for Assessment, Case Conceptualization, and Intervention. In: Smits, J.A.J., Jacquart, J., Abramowitz, J., Arch, J., Margraf, J. (eds) Clinical Guide to Exposure Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04927-9_3

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