Constantly Googling symptoms, seeking reassurance, or avoiding doctors altogether? A 21-question self-reflection on body-symptom hypervigilance and catastrophizing health worry. A self-reflection tool, not a clinical diagnosis.
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DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder domains (body-symptom hypervigilance, reassurance-seeking/avoidance, catastrophizing health information) · Original 21 items, not the copyrighted Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI, Salkovskis et al. 2002) — we do not administer that instrument.
No. This is a free, self-reflection tool, not a clinical diagnosis. It cannot tell you whether you have illness anxiety disorder in a medical sense — only a licensed professional can make that kind of assessment. What it can do is give you a plain-language snapshot across three health-anxiety domains, which can be a useful starting point if you're wondering whether your relationship with health worry is worth looking at more closely.
Yes. Paying attention to your body and taking symptoms seriously is healthy, not a problem. Health anxiety describes a different, more consistent pattern: reassurance fades quickly, minor symptoms get read as serious ones far more often than the evidence supports, and the worry starts shaping decisions like avoiding checkups or repeatedly seeking reassurance.
No, this screener isn't designed to rule anything in or out about your physical health. It measures an anxiety pattern, not the presence or absence of illness. If you have physical symptoms that concern you, your doctor is still the right person to evaluate them regardless of what this check-in shows.
Occasional searching is common and not inherently a problem. It becomes worth noticing when searches tend to leave you more worried than before, when you search repeatedly for the same symptom, or when it becomes a pattern researchers sometimes call 'cyberchondria', compulsive online symptom-checking that fuels rather than resolves the worry.
Taking our test should not be viewed as a comprehensive or precise evaluation of your abilities. Results are for informational and self-reflection purposes only.
Constantly Googling symptoms, seeking reassurance, or avoiding doctors altogether? A 21-question self-reflection on body-symptom hypervigilance and catastrophizing health worry. A self-reflection tool, not a clinical diagnosis.
This check-in looks at health anxiety through three everyday domains. Body-Symptom Hypervigilance asks how closely you monitor your body for unusual sensations, and how much a noticed sensation tends to hold your attention once you've found it. Reassurance-Seeking & Avoidance covers two sides of the same coin: searching symptoms online, asking people close to you for reassurance, or booking doctor's visits mainly to be told everything is fine, or the opposite, avoiding medical care and tests altogether because you're afraid of what they might find. Catastrophizing Health Information looks at how readily a minor symptom or a piece of health information gets interpreted as a sign of something serious, one of the core patterns named in DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder criteria. Together, the three give a fuller picture than a single question could: two people can both look up a symptom online and come away in very different places, one reassured, one more worried than before.
Paying attention to your body and taking symptoms seriously is a healthy instinct, not a problem to fix. What researchers describe as health anxiety, or illness anxiety disorder in DSM-5 terms, is a different, more consistent pattern: bodily sensations get monitored closely, reassurance from a doctor or a loved one fades quickly before a new worry takes its place, and minor symptoms are interpreted as signs of serious illness far more often than the evidence supports. Health anxiety is often dismissed as 'just being a hypochondriac,' but the distress it causes is real, and it can quietly cost real time, energy, and peace of mind, whether that shows up as hours spent searching symptoms online, repeated visits seeking reassurance, or avoiding checkups altogether out of fear of what they might reveal. It becomes worth paying closer attention when the pattern feels persistent, when reassurance never quite sticks, or when it's shaping medical decisions in either direction, too much or too little.
This check-in is a self-reflection tool, not a diagnostic instrument, and it does not replace an evaluation by a licensed professional or a physical exam by your doctor. It draws on the domain structure of DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder criteria, adapted here into a plain-language self-check, rather than any single proprietary questionnaire. If your results suggest this pattern is having a real effect on your day-to-day life, a therapist experienced with health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder is a reasonable next step, and your regular doctor can help address any physical concerns alongside that. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches built specifically for health anxiety, including ones that gradually reduce reassurance-seeking and body-checking, have a good evidence base for reducing how much this pattern takes over.
See how closely you monitor your body for unusual sensations compared to what seems typical for most people.
Get a read on your reassurance-seeking and avoidance patterns — whether you lean toward compulsive symptom-checking online, repeated doctor visits for reassurance, or avoiding medical care altogether.
Understand your catastrophizing tendency — how often a minor symptom or a scary article gets read as a sign of serious illness.
Recognize the difference between being health-conscious and a pattern that's quietly costing you time, energy, or peace of mind.
Walk away with a plain-language summary across all three domains — useful as a starting point for a conversation with a therapist or your doctor.
I scan my body for unusual sensations even when nothing seems wrong.
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Constantly Googling symptoms, seeking reassurance, or avoiding doctors altogether? A 21-question self-reflection on body-symptom hypervigilance and catastrophizing health worry. A self-reflection tool, not a clinical diagnosis.
No signup needed — your result appears instantly.
DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder domains (body-symptom hypervigilance, reassurance-seeking/avoidance, catastrophizing health information) · Original 21 items, not the copyrighted Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI, Salkovskis et al. 2002) — we do not administer that instrument.
No. This is a free, self-reflection tool, not a clinical diagnosis. It cannot tell you whether you have illness anxiety disorder in a medical sense — only a licensed professional can make that kind of assessment. What it can do is give you a plain-language snapshot across three health-anxiety domains, which can be a useful starting point if you're wondering whether your relationship with health worry is worth looking at more closely.
Yes. Paying attention to your body and taking symptoms seriously is healthy, not a problem. Health anxiety describes a different, more consistent pattern: reassurance fades quickly, minor symptoms get read as serious ones far more often than the evidence supports, and the worry starts shaping decisions like avoiding checkups or repeatedly seeking reassurance.
No, this screener isn't designed to rule anything in or out about your physical health. It measures an anxiety pattern, not the presence or absence of illness. If you have physical symptoms that concern you, your doctor is still the right person to evaluate them regardless of what this check-in shows.
Occasional searching is common and not inherently a problem. It becomes worth noticing when searches tend to leave you more worried than before, when you search repeatedly for the same symptom, or when it becomes a pattern researchers sometimes call 'cyberchondria', compulsive online symptom-checking that fuels rather than resolves the worry.
