health anxiety

excessive or inappropriate anxiety about one’s health, based on misinterpretation of symptoms (e.g., pain, gastrointestinal distress) as indicative of serious illness. Health anxiety is often associated with hypochondriasis.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

health–belief model

a model that identifies the relationships of the following issues to the likelihood of taking preventive health action: (a) individual perceptions about susceptibility to and seriousness of a disease, (b) sociodemographic variables, (c) environmental cues, and (d) perceptions of the benefits and costs. See also exercise–behavior model.