英语四六级阅读练习：健康焦虑并非玩笑_大学英语写作

英语四六级阅读练习：健康焦虑并非玩笑

　　The internet， he says， is one reason. Everyone looks up their symptoms， but the internet tells you everything and nothing. ONeill agrees： Type in flu symptoms and you will be able to find a huge range of diseases from a common cold to the early stages of an HIV infection.

　　Several studies have shown that cognitive behavioural therapy ， which aims to change thought patterns and behaviour， can reduce the symptoms and hospital appointments. But waiting lists on the NHS can be long in some areas， and the therapy is not widespread. Tyrer is now leading a study of 448 people with health anxiety who are being treated in five hospitals. Treatment takes place in hospital clinics that deal with the illness the sufferer feels they have - such as cardiology or neurology clinics. If you say， We want you to see a psychologist or psychiatrist they say， Im physically ill， not mentally ill。 So they are treated by general nurses who have been trained in this technique.

　　The study will finish in 2012， but early results look promising. We have had dozen of letters from the patients saying how their lives have been turned around， says Tyrer. He describes a patient who had been treated for heart disease who had not been out of his house for a year because he was so terrified of having a heart attack; after a course of CBT， he was able to go on holiday. Tyrer is aiming to prove such treatment will eventually save the NHS money by reducing the need for tests and emergency hospital admissions.