CBT · Anxiety

Health Anxiety Worksheet

Test the sensation-equals-illness prediction and drop one checking move

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Health anxiety is maintained by three moves: monitoring the body, seeking reassurance, and catastrophizing sensation. This worksheet names the feared illness, tests the prediction, and plans a week of doing less of the three maintaining moves — the treatment, not the reassurance.

The sensation or symptom I keep coming back to

The illness I'm afraid it is (name it explicitly)

How likely it feels the sensation = the illness (0–100)

none

most

Evidence I use to make the sensation mean the illness

Evidence the sensation has meant nothing before (times it passed)

Checking, googling, reassurance-seeking, or body-scanning I did this week

Cost of continuing to check (relationships, sleep, mood, time)

This week's experiment: which checking move am I going to drop, and for how long?

Belief in the feared illness now (0–100)

none

most

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About this worksheet

Health anxiety is maintained by three moves: body-monitoring, reassurance-seeking (googling, doctor-shopping, asking loved ones), and catastrophizing sensation. Every one of those moves brings short-term relief and long-term reinforcement — which is why the anxiety keeps returning even after clean scans. This worksheet doesn't argue with the illness fear; it makes the maintaining moves visible and asks the client to drop one for a defined window. Fields cover the sensation, the feared illness, the felt likelihood, the evidence pattern (including all the times the sensation meant nothing), a week's inventory of checking behaviors, the cost of continuing to check, and one specific move to drop this week. Pairs with an ERP-style write-up when the client is ready for structured exposure.

When to use it

Illness anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, and post-illness hypervigilance.
Cyberchondria — clients caught in symptom-search loops.
Cardiac phobia, cancer worry, or fear of a specific diagnosis after a family loss.
As homework alongside ERP for health-focused OCD.

How to use it

1
Name the feared illness specifically
Vague fear ('something's wrong') doesn't move — the specific feared diagnosis is the material.
2
Log the checking, don't judge it
Frequency, duration, and cost. Judgement drives shame, not change.
3
Pick one checking move to drop
One only. Small, specific, time-bounded. 'No googling symptoms for 3 days' beats 'stop checking'.
4
Re-rate at the end of the drop window
The prediction was that anxiety would spike and stay. The data almost always disconfirms.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from a thought record?+

A thought record disputes the anxious belief. This worksheet targets the behavioral loop keeping the belief alive. In health anxiety, the behavior is the intervention.

Should the therapist provide reassurance?+

No — accommodating reassurance-seeking is the single most common way health anxiety gets accidentally maintained in therapy. The worksheet is a structured way to move the client off that loop.

What if a real symptom needs medical attention?+

One agreed medical work-up with a trusted provider first, then treat what's left as anxiety. This worksheet is for the anxiety layer, not for undiagnosed physical illness.

Is this worksheet free?+

Yes. Free printable PDF. Sign in to TherapistAssist to send as a secure client link.