Oh my god eastenders tonight

[mary60]

Why do they do it to us, I am now totally overwhelmed with panic.
She has the odd dodgy tummy and chest pains and she is riddled with Cancer!!!!

My heart is pumping , Is this me is this what is going on with me.

I now convinced this is what I have.:ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:

[nomorepanic]

Umm no it isn't.

Pat has also had a heart attack as well

[mary60]

Yes but she has Cancer of lungs stomach and bones

[f0rest]

is this real? or a tv programme?

[mikewales]

If you were riddled with cancer, you would know about it, and not just get the odd bad tummy or chest pain, but with health anxiety, both of these are exremely common.

Realistically, you know you have severe HA, which can make you imagine all sorts of horrible things, so you need to try and get that out of your mind and tell yourself it is ONLY the HA, not cancer or anything else

[nomorepanic]

She smokes and drinks a lot as well

[Carys]

...and......she's an actress, and not a real person. :roflmao: She is playing a character who they wanted to 'kill off' in a t.v. programme where they are looking to increase ratings with sensational and often unrealistic story lines.

[miss polly]

But people do get diagnosed with cancer all the time and I've been having this sharp pain in my side for a few days now. I don't drink but I do smoke. I'm panicking too! Oh God why did I watch this tonight!!!

[charmcc123]

its totally scared me to i looked at her face in the end of programme and saw me doing that face when im so scared of what i think is wrong with me i hate soaps for this an tanyas cancer please eastenders stop it!!

[nomorepanic]

Yes people die of such things but this is a soap opera and they do address such issues. They can't never expose the watching public to such things as cancer as then people would complain that nothing bad ever happened.

You could watch anything on TV and think that you had the same illness when it is highly unlikely really isn't it?

You can't spend your lives hiding away from watching a programme in case they show something like this.

Take it for what it is and if you are seriously worried about your health then see a GP and don't use a TV programme to diagnose an illness.

[Diva]

Nicola

We wish we could rationalise as you do but we can't, that's what HA is all about.

Some of us are at the Doctor's all the time, some of us are scared stiff to go near a surgery, but some of us will be really anxious after watching tonight's Eastenders.

We all know it's just soap and fictional but it still freaks some of us out.

[miniholly]

I was just about to post about this! Almost got me in a right state as I'm watching it on BBC iPlayer atm lol.
Got a knot in my stomach when watching it did manage to avoid panicking though, but please remember its kind of unrealistic, in reality you'd know if you had all three of those cancers at once you'd be very very very poorly and have many more extreme symptoms. I know it's hard but try not worry :)
I know how you feel though, I remember when Coronation Street decided to give Jack Duckworth lymphoma and it really set me off.

[nomorepanic]

Diva - my point was that there is always going to be something on TV that we think we have so then we end up locking ourselves away in case we see it.

We have to remember this is TV and is sensationalised (like the news) to give the worse ever possible diagnosis.

Can I suggest people don't watch Eastenders as I know what happens to Pat so best not to watch it.

Please please do not compare yourself to these fictional characters and get so upset and distressed thinking you have the same. We are all unique and most aches and pains are completely harmless.

[mary60]

I drink and smoke, I suffer with a terrible H/A and I know I should stop before anyone says it but my anxiety keeps me at it.
Got a kidney and bladder a scan next week , blood in wee, back ache side ache, and bad stomach.

[london]

eastenders is not real stop ,worrying
first google now east enders

god bless

[mary60]

its totally scared me to i looked at her face in the end of programme and saw me doing that face when im so scared of what i think is wrong with me i hate soaps for this an tanyas cancer please eastenders stop it!!


I so agree even if you dont have H/A its still a bloody miserable show at Christmas

[miss polly]

I think all soaps should ban cancer stories. It's my main HA fear and tv is a way to escape for a while. The last thing I need is to be confronted with it when I'm trying to relax and switch off from cancer worries.

[Greenman50]

I stopped watching eastenders years ago its so dam gloomy all the time .

I know how you feel when you are in the grip of HA , i,ve done it myself but thankfully i eventually got over it . For some reason something just gets "stuck" in your mind and you can,t get rid of it .

Try distracting yourself , go for a walk , get out and about and the feelings will pass.

[Mirabelle]

It's not real, like the news, it's pretend, like The Simpsons. They need a shocking and sensational plot line. No one with that much cancer would be as well as that, it's ridiculous.
xx

[mary60]

The point is people who have health anxiety are not rational or logical , it is all magnified.
every little sympton is linked by our brains and it comes up with ONLY one disease
" CANCER.
I would say that is why this forum exists,

[macc noodle]

OK guys - some of you who have posted on this thread may not know me but I have been here a year now ........................ I found my way here because of SEVERE HEALTH ANXIETY AND PANIC - I was a complete mess and like a scared rabbit trapped in the headlights anytime anyone mentioned the dreaded C word and I was utterly convinced that I had it and I was going to die. Oh yes, not to mention the multiple heart attacks, MND, you name I have had it !!! :ohmy:

But, you know what Nicola is bang on with her replies to this thread and you know what else guys until you confront your own fears, you will always struggle with programmes like this - simply because it is the nature of the illness.

I have just finished 6 months CBT which I found to be very useful but I still have very dodgy days with my anxiety but I can now deal with them in quite a different way - dare I say it - almost like someone who has not suffered from it and almost in a more natural "worry wort" way :D

First of all, some people do have few symptoms of illness (whatever it may be) and yes, sometimes people do get a very poor prognosis at the time of diagnosis BUT this is very very rare and these stories will always be mentioned in the press thus reinforcing our fears that we too will have the same problems ! Not so - millions of people get scary diagnoses and go on to be cured or receive treatment that gives them prolonged and good quality life.

Secondly, when you are in the midst of HA and it has its grip on you storylines like this will scare you and make you feel worse so you know what - don't watch the programme - it is only fiction and yes they dramatise for impact.

Please don't all get upset or worked up about it - there is nothing to worry about - your hyper vigilance will go into overdrive and you will end up feeling so scared. We all get the odd pains and aches and dodgy tums - this does not mean that we are all suffering a fatal illness and you know what if I had a choice I think that I would choose to go quickly and quietly rather than have lots of invasive surgery for the same outcome.

I know I am rambling and probably not helping but ......................

I do know how you are all feeling and on my bad days I am right there with you :hugs:

Macc Noodle

xx

[Carys]

Agree entirely with the above.

I understand difficulties in rationalising with HA, having spend so many past years of my life in the grip of it. (as I've said on the forum once before, I am the other way now and tend to ignore physical symptoms I probably should not and don't go to the GP LOL! Ah well....).....but......this scenario is a good place to start with learning to rationalise your fears.

All the things that have been mentioned here - it is fiction, it is sensationalised, it is designed to be miserable and depressing/tackle rare issues, my pain in the side is clearly nothing like Pat's as she looks bl***y awful and is in agony etc. etc.... could be things that you repeat over to yourself and eventually internalise. Then as you get stronger with this method of thinking about things, it gets easier and and easier.

In all seriousness though, and I am not being sarcastic, if you feel fragile emotionally, can I recommend 'Frozen Planet' instead.....it is really beautiful, life affirming and fascinating.

I tend to watch Eastenders, and switch it off feeling happy, as I am glad I don't live the sort of nightmare life that is shown on the programme. :D

[mikewales]

Eastenders has always been miserable, and has always had strong storylines, murders, death from various illnesses accidents etc... It is a condensed and sensationalised version of real life.

TV shouldnt stop showing any challenging storylines just because a tiny percentage of the population 'may' object or be effected by something ( which is why they often advertise helplines at the end of programs that have shown rape, suicide etc.. )

We all need to take some responsibility for our own anxieties and worries, if you know a certain sort of program may set you off, then don't watch it, and stick to ones that are unlikely to tackle that sort of subject.

[dizzydaisy]

Well it certainly fired up my HA, especially when the doctor said it probably started in the pancreas:ohmy: my biggest fear is liver and pancreas cancer, so everything is a sign:winks:Im not gonna watch the next few episodes, and try to stay calm..................

[Cell block H fan]

I hear ya! I kept thinking back to when she was getting chest pains, I used to comfort myself to a certain extent that if I had cancer pains wouldn't come n go they would be there all the time? Then Eastenders has Pat getting pains off n on LOL
I can laugh about it a bit because I have got the HA under control to a certain extent these days. But it certainly does set the old mind working again seeing something like that, the fact it is a program, well, yes, that's certainly helped me a little gotta admit. But even so..

[Carys]

My Father In Law started his cancer with cancer of the pancreas, and trust me there were many more symptoms than the fictional Pat has/had. Lets be honest, until the last few days, bar the odd angina episode, she has been looking as normal as usual; until they decided to start adding make-up dark bags under her eyes.