Nosophobia : Fear of a Disease
People who have nosophobia have an illogical fear of developing a specific disease. Usually, the illness they fear is life-threatening. The word nosophobia originates from the Greek words for disease, “nosos,” and fear, “phobos.”
Nosophobia is sometimes called medical students’ disease because students may believe they have a disease after studying it. Other terms for nosophobia include disease phobia, pathophobia and hypochondria. A related and fairly new phobia is cyberchondria. This refers to people reading about a certain disease online (cyberspace) and then believing they have, or will get, that illness.
Symptoms and Causes
Who is at risk for nosophobia (fear of disease)?
Research indicates that all sexes and ages are at risk for nosophobia. But people who are older might be more prone to nosophobia because of a fear of dying.
People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may also have a higher risk. OCD causes you to need to have control over situations, including whether or not you get sick.
Other risk factors include:
- Being seriously ill as a child.
- Family history of inheritable disease.
- Caring for a loved one with a serious illness.
- Loss of a loved one to an incurable disease.
- Growing up with a parent who has illness anxiety disorder (often called hypochondria), phobias or anxiety disorder.
- Gene changes (mutations) that increase your risk of an anxiety disorder.
What are the symptoms of Nosophobia?
People with nosophobia may make frequent trips to the doctor and request medical tests. Or they may develop a fear of doctors (iatrophobia) because they’re afraid they’ll find out they have a disease. They often feel that doctors don’t take their symptoms and concerns seriously.
Signs of nosophobia include:
- Avoiding people or places to lower your risk of getting a disease.
- Constantly researching a specific disease and its symptoms.
- Extreme anxiety about your health.
- Obsessing over normal body functions, such as heart rate, or worrying that something like a cough is a sign of lung cancer.
- Oversharing your symptoms and health status with others.
- Repeatedly checking for signs of illness, such as taking your blood pressure or temperature.
- Seeking reassurances from others about your symptoms or health.
- Uneasiness with normal bodily functions like gas or sweating.