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Contents of It's not All in Your Head by Asmundson and Taylor

Contents of It's not All in Your Head by Asmundson and Taylor

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Disorders Draft (APA, 2010) proposes the new diagnosis <strong>of</strong> complex somatic symptom<br />

disorder (CSSD) with predom<strong>in</strong>ant health anxiety to replace hypochondriasis. A br<strong>and</strong><br />

new diagnosis <strong>of</strong> illness anxiety disorder (IAD) is proposed for health anxiety with mild<br />

somatic symptoms.<br />

1.1.1. Cognitive-behavioural model <strong>of</strong> health anxiety<br />

The constellation <strong>of</strong> cognitive, somatic, affective, <strong>and</strong> behavioural symptoms <strong>of</strong><br />

health anxiety prompted development <strong>of</strong> a comprehensive explanatory model. Beck‘s<br />

cognitive theory <strong>of</strong> anxiety (1985) was used to create the cognitive-behavioural<br />

formulation <strong>of</strong> health anxiety <strong>and</strong> to guide theory <strong>and</strong> treatment development specific to<br />

health anxiety (see Figure 1; Salkovskis, Warwick, & Deale, 2003; Wattar et al., 2005).<br />

For example, when one <strong>not</strong>ices bodily sensations, they are usually perceived to be<br />

unpleasant (<strong>Asmundson</strong> et al., 2005; <strong>Asmundson</strong>, <strong>Taylor</strong>, Bovell, & Collimore, 2006).<br />

This unpleasantness sometimes leads to worry or anxiety about what the sensations mean.<br />

The worry <strong>and</strong> anxiety experienced are associated with physiological arousal.<br />

Individuals may also <strong>in</strong>crease bodily check<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> avoidance behaviours. This <strong>in</strong>creases<br />

the likelihood <strong>of</strong> <strong>not</strong>ic<strong>in</strong>g unpleasant bodily sensations <strong>and</strong> the vicious cycle beg<strong>in</strong>s aga<strong>in</strong>.<br />

The cognitive-behavioural model <strong>of</strong> health anxiety is the most established,<br />

comprehensive, <strong>and</strong> useful model <strong>of</strong> the cycle <strong>of</strong> health anxiety symptom development<br />

<strong>and</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>tenance (<strong>Asmundson</strong> & <strong>Taylor</strong>, 2005).<br />

4

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