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A new study suggests that illness anxiety can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fortunately, there are effective treatments

In an English churchyard, the Irish comedian Spike Milligan’s gravestone has a chastening message for those who knew him: “I told you I was ill.”

We can all identify with Milligan’s concerns. Who hasn’t panic-researched supposed symptoms, fearing the worst? His joke speaks to our fear that legitimate health concerns will be shrugged off as nothing to worry about – “Oh, it’s just hypochondria.”

But there’s a difference between the occasional appointment with Dr Google and long-term, serious anxiety over health. This persistent fear of an undiagnosed illness may lead to endless doctor’s visits, or the opposite: total avoidance of medical care. What if we’re not taking hypochondria itself seriously enough?

That’s the takeaway from a recent Swedish study that found that people with what is now called illness anxiety disorder may die earlier than others. It’s a disturbing finding that makes the disorder sound like a self-fulfilling prophecy. As one anxious observer put it: “It’s not enough just to have worries – now you have to worry about your worries.”