I’m Constantly Worried There Is Something Wrong With My Health

A health concern can begin with something completely ordinary: noticing a change in your body, hearing about somebody else’s illness, attending a medical appointment or waiting for a test.

For some people, the worry then becomes difficult to put down. You may spend large parts of the day monitoring your body, imagining serious explanations, searching for information or wondering whether something has been missed.

When worry about being ill or becoming ill starts taking over your life, health anxiety may be relevant. That does not tell you whether any physical symptom is medically important. Those are separate questions.

Two questions need two different kinds of help

The first question is medical: does a physical symptom or health concern need assessment?

MH360 cannot answer that. New, changing, persistent or concerning symptoms should be discussed with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.

The second question is about mental wellbeing: how much time, attention and distress is the worry itself creating?

That is where information about health anxiety becomes useful.

Notice how much of your day health worry occupies

You might repeatedly scan your body, search symptoms online, ask people whether you look unwell, revisit medical conversations or mentally test whether a sensation is still there.

The NHS identifies frequent body checking, reassurance seeking, worrying that tests have missed something and repeatedly looking at health information as common features of health anxiety.

The important point is not whether you have ever done one of these things. It is whether the pattern is becoming difficult to control.

Reassurance may feel powerful but short-lived

You may feel calmer after a GP appointment, a normal test or somebody telling you not to worry.

Then a new thought appears: “What if the test was too early?” “What if I explained it badly?” “What if this is a different symptom?”

If reassurance repeatedly produces only a short period of relief, notice that pattern rather than seeking increasingly certain reassurance from MH360, family, friends or the internet.

Keep medical care and anxiety care in their proper places

You do not need to choose between “this is medical” and “this is anxiety” by yourself.

Take physical-health concerns to an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. If the amount of worrying, checking or reassurance seeking is affecting your life, raise that too.

Adults in England can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies, and NHS England specifically includes health anxiety among the problems those services treat.

A useful first goal is not absolute certainty

No article can give you complete certainty about your future health.

A more realistic aim is to reduce the amount of your life being organised around searching for certainty.

That might begin with noticing when health worry appears, what you do next and whether that action gives lasting help or simply starts the cycle again.

Last reviewed

6 September 2026

Important health anxiety and medical information

This guide provides general information about health anxiety and mental wellbeing only. MH360 is not a medical diagnosis service and cannot assess physical symptoms, diagnose medical conditions, interpret medical tests or provide advice about whether a symptom may indicate a particular medical condition.

New, changing, persistent or concerning physical symptoms, questions about an existing medical condition, and concerns about medical tests or treatment should be discussed with your GP, NHS service or another appropriately qualified healthcare professional.

Do not use this guide to decide whether a physical symptom needs medical assessment or to replace medical advice you have been given. If you are unsure whether a symptom needs medical attention, seek advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.

If worry about your health is persistent, is taking over significant amounts of your time, or is affecting everyday life, speak to your GP or an appropriately qualified mental-health professional. Adults in England can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression, which includes support for health anxiety.

If you or somebody else is in immediate danger or there is a life-threatening emergency, call 999 or go to A&E.