If you can’t stop googling your symptoms, re-reading old lab results, or lying awake worrying that every ache is something serious, this episode on health anxiety is for you. I’m Dr. Laurie Marbas, and I want to show you why your attention gets stuck on health fears, and the simple, science-backed way to redirect it.

On this episode of The Habit Healers Podcast, I unpack what the research actually shows about health anxiety. Here’s the part that surprised me most: anxious minds don’t notice health threats faster than anyone else, they just can’t let go of them once they do. I explain how that kind of chronic worry and rumination puts a real, measurable load on your body, raising blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol, even when nothing is actually wrong. Then I walk you through a gentle approach drawn from acceptance and commitment therapy, and I share my Windshield Protocol, a five-habit system for shifting your attention away from the fears you can’t control and toward the forward-facing health habits you can act on today.

What you’ll learn:

* Why people with health anxiety struggle to disengage from threats, not detect them

* How worry and rumination quietly raise blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol

* What the research says about symptom checking, reassurance seeking, and compulsive online searching

* A science-backed way to redirect your attention using acceptance and commitment therapy

* The five-habit Windshield Protocol for building controllable, plant-forward health habits

* The red flags that mean health anxiety is worth talking to a professional about

Dr. Marbas Substack Article: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/p/are-you-driving-your-health-while?r=4t8jxg

Check out the Habit Healers Community: https://www.skool.com/habithealers/about

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