Final answer:
The best description of someone with an illness anxiety disorder is having intense, excessive worry about having a serious medical condition. This preoccupation persists despite medical reassurance, often leading to multiple doctor visits and impacting the individual's daily life.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that best describes someone with an illness anxiety disorder is: b) Has intense, excessive worry about having a serious medical condition. This disorder is characterized by the preoccupation with and fear of having a serious disease despite medical reassurance and lack of significant physical symptoms. Individuals with illness anxiety disorder have feelings of worry and fearfulness that last for months at a time, and they often focus on bodily symptoms, interpret them as severe illnesses, and seek multiple medical opinions. Illnesses such as these are sometimes contested illnesses since they might not have clear medical evidence and are subject to societal debates over their legitimacy as true medical conditions. It is essential to understand that anxiety disorders, including illness anxiety disorder, constitute the most common mental disorders in the United States. Anxiety disorders include conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and phobias.