Mental health worry little studied

This worry includes concerns about having an illness or contracting an illness, and can range from mild concern through to extreme anxiety or fear.

Worry about physical health can be useful because it motivates people to seek medical help. However, extreme anxiety that is out of proportion and which persists despite reassurance can become a distressing issue for the individual.

Treatments for extreme health anxiety include cognitive behavioural therapy to address the factors that maintain the worry.

It has been suggested that just as people can worry about their physical health, people can worry about their mental health too; a worry that could also range from mild concern to severe worry. While much is known about anxiety regarding physical health, little is known about anxiety regarding mental health.

This is unfortunate because there could be people who have an issue with mental health worry for which there is no formal recognition or understanding.

Therefore, researching mental health worry is important for developing understanding and possibly treatments.

I am a Masters of Clinical Psychology student at Edith Cowan University conducting approved research into mental health worry.

As part of my project, I am inviting adults to complete the newly developed Mental Health Anxiety Inventory.

Volunteers do not need to be worried about their mental health or have a mental health issue and participation simply involves taking an anonymous, 20-minute survey online (or a paper and pencil version upon request).

I need 200 participants.

If you are interested, use the link below for more information and access to the online survey:

http://tinyurl.com/mentalhealthanxietysurvey or email Della Grunwald at |dlgrunwa@our.ecu.edu.au

Finally, any individual experiencing distressing levels of worry about their mental or physical health are advised to contact their GP or mental health professional for assistance.