Cognitive behaviour therapy is effective for reducing health anxiety

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is substantially more effective than standard care at reducing symptoms of health anxiety, a study has found. The findings are good news for the 10 to 20 per cent of hospital patients who excessively worry that they have a serious, undiagnosed illness. Published in The Lancet , this is the first large-scale trial to test the effectiveness of CBT for health anxiety. CBT aims to change thought patterns and behaviour. Earlier studies have shown that it is an effective treatment for other anxiety disorders, but there is a shortage of specialist clinicians and therapists to deliver CBT and waiting lists can be long. The new study demonstrates that a modified cognitive behavioural treatment for health anxiety (CBT-HA) can be delivered by non-specialist staff with minimal training at little extra cost. "Health anxiety or hypochondria is costly for healthcare providers, and an effective treatment could potentially save money by reducing the need for unnecessary tests and emergency hospital admissions," said study leader Professor Peter Tyrer , from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London.