Nosophobia: Fear of Having a Disease

Nosophobia’s Greek origin is a combination of “nosos,” meaning disease, and “phobos,” meaning fear. The Greek origin alludes to the definition of nosophobia which is an irrational and intense, uncontrollable fear of disease. So, what characterizes this specific phobia?

It’s common to become periodically anxious about contracting an infectious disease or severe sickness, especially if there’s an outbreak and many people are getting sick. However, for someone with nosophobia, anxiety about a specific disease can become so overwhelming that it gets to the point where routine activities like work, relationships, and socialization are affected.

Once commonly referred to as “medical student syndrome” or “medical students’ disease,” newer research suggests that nosophobia doesn’t necessarily affect more medical students than anyone else.

Let’s look at some of the common symptoms, causes, risk factors, and treatment options for nosophobia. Armed with the right information and tools, you can find ways to lessen the frequency and severity of symptoms you may experience if you have a debilitating fear of disease.

The most prevalent symptom of nosophobia is simply an extreme, irrational fear of developing a specific disease. This excessive fear will often continue even after being examined by a physician and found to have no known symptoms to be concerned about. Over time, the constant and excessive fear of developing the disease can cause other symptoms, including:

• Nausea
• Sweating
• Dizziness
• Rapid pulse
• Sleeping problems
• Quick, shallow breathing

Someone with nosophobia may completely avoid the topic and any news about the disease they fear. Simply hearing about it can trigger both emotional and physical symptoms. They also might avoid going out to public spaces like grocery stores or movie theaters.

This isn’t true for all people who suffer from nosophobia, though. Others become obsessed with learning all they can about the disease they fear. They might spend hour after hour researching ailments or monitoring social media and other news outlets for information. It can consume their life.

There are various possible causes for nosophobia. However, in most cases, the primary underlying cause cannot be determined. That said, there are known risk factors that may increase the chance of developing the condition.

Causes

When someone we’re close with has a serious medical condition and then experiences complications from it, it’s natural to worry that the same thing could happen to you. This is particularly true if you’re the person’s caretaker and you’ve been watching their symptoms evolve. Other possible causes of nosophobia include:

• Having generalized anxiety about your health
• Having someone close to you die from a certain disease
• Having somatic amplification disorder, a condition that affects perception

Living through a major global health crisis may also cause nosophobia to develop in some people. This can be especially true when we’re inundated with stories about a disease on the news, from friends, or via various other channels.

Risk Factors

Some experts suggest that people who research health conditions regularly on the Internet may be at higher risk for developing nosophobia. You also may be more at risk if you have family members with nosophobia, or if someone in your family has another type of anxiety disorder.

Finally, the risk of developing nosophobia can increase if you or someone in your family is living with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or chronic depression.

Nosophobia and illness anxiety disorder (hypochondriasis) are often confused. There are significant differences between the two, though.

• Someone with illness anxiety disorder may constantly worry that they have or will develop a life-threatening sickness or disease.

• Someone with nosophobia, however, will become increasingly (and often irrationally) fearful about contracting a specific disease — usually something that’s generally life-threatening and very well-known like heart disease or cancer. They may start to believe they have an actual physical symptom of that specific disease.

While nosophobia involves a fear of a specific disease, illness anxiety disorder is marked by more anxiety about illnesses in general. For example, someone with nosophobia might constantly fear developing a cranial tumor even if they’ve never had a headache. Someone with illness anxiety disorder, on the other hand, might worry that an occasional headache indicates a cranial tumor.

Another very distinct difference between the two conditions is that people with illness anxiety disorder are more likely to ask for reassurance or help in dealing with their symptoms. Most people (although not all) living with nosophobia don’t reach out for help.