Phobias have been associated with humankind since the very beginning of time, some acknowledged, some laughed

at and a very few with actual treatment .However in recent times psychologists and researchers have illuminated us with the actual causes of all the various kinds of phobias people encounter with in their daily life with the endless striving to cure them of their paranoia and try to help them live life fear free. The various kinds of physiological disorders like the fast beating of the heart, the sweating of palms, to shaking tremendously all have their root cause in some difficult psychological factor which if unsorted may lead to sever panic attacks and result in untoward events of varying complexities. Whether or not there exists any rationality to the fear is a completely different issue, but there can be no denying the fact fear is definitely not good to sustain a healthy life. Phobias are found to differ significantly among individuals with varying degrees of severity. While some people they tend to simply avoid the subject that induces fear within their system and suffer from mild anxiety, in others it might be a full-fledged panic attack. Without proper counseling diagnosis, and psychiatric treatment it at times is extremely difficult for these people to restore their normal balance. One of the very common of such phobias is Hypochondriasis. In hypochondriasis patients firmly believe or live on the suspicion that they suffer from something, mostly a disease which is of a very serious nature. Often since minor symptoms of some order augment this, their concerns rise despite reassurances by qualified physicians and surgeons. Often it has been found that these patients become bed bound not by the actual illness but from the very fear of it. Hypochondriasis is found to occur in both males and females equally. In many instances the very fear of illness is found to disrupt social, occupational and family functioning. It is also found to moreover persist despite the best medical evaluation and reassurances of good health. Often it has been found that the patients preoccupation is often based on symptoms such as 1) certain specific body functions like that of swollen lymph nodes and vestibular sensations2)Physical abnormalities which arent very dangerous medically ,like that of a small sore, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome etc.3)Various vague physical conditions that patients tend to refre as tired lungs or foggy brains. These kinds of fears are often found to be followed up with activities that basically can be adjourned as safety behavior, targeted to reduce fear which appear to normal people as repetitive abnormal behavior.

. Obtain a list of the bodily signs,sensations, perturbations, and variations that trigger episodes of health anxiety.Signs and sensations might be internal, but can also be associated with theskin, hair, or products that are expelled from the body. Questions to elicit thisinformation include: Which bodily symptoms are you concerned with? What kinds of symptoms provoke concerns about your health?In addition, the patient can be asked to record the incidence of each fearedsensation for one week, including symptom severity and the situation in whichit occurred. A monitoring form for this use appears in Appendix 2. For somendividuals, the feared sensations will be circumscribed around a particularregion of the body (e.g., abdomen), organ system (e.g., digestive), or bodilyfunction (e.g., swallowing). For others, feared sensations might be diverse.Regardless, this structured self-monitoring will provide the therapist and patientwith invaluable assessment information.

Case study: Greg started on his own to develop several kinds of precautionary or safety behaviors that he believed would certainly reduce the risk associated with the condition he feared to have developed .He firstly had moved his home from Florida to Rochester ,so that he can stay close to Mayo clinic ,which he believed to be the only place that could detect with accuracy and be the savior from the heart problem he suspected himself to have .He also needed his fiance Jody to accompany him at all times in case he urgently needed to relocated to the hospital for some emergency. He decided to do away with any kind of physical exertion which in turn would strain his delicate heart and thereby abstained himself from all the different kinds of physical activities that he previously enjoyed indulging in like cycling, jogging ,basketball and biking. He also used a portable heart monitor for checking his heart rate and blood pressure, so that he could be sure of himself. Greg had been assured and reassured by several physicians that the symptoms he was worried of were not that serious .