Before she leaves for work in the morning, Peyton Lynas needs to check her vital signs three to four times to feel safe to start her day. A certified nursing assistant for older adults living in Rhode Island, Lynas knows exactly how to check her blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature. Throughout the day, she’ll check them an additional 10 to 15 times, all to calm the relentless presence of her health anxiety.
“I will take my blood pressure until it’s something that I’m okay with,” Lynas, 33, tells Fortune. “Which is debilitating. There have been times that I will cancel plans because I’m not okay with what my vitals are.” For three weeks in November, in fact, Lynas couldn’t leave her home, convinced she was having a heart attack. Eventually, she went to the ER. Nothing was wrong.
