sophieunderscore
10-07-06, 16:46
I found this and I hoped it would prove helpful to someone in the forum. It's from a book and it's their suggested first step to breaking the vicious circle of health anxiety.
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"Learn not to ask for reassurance"
At times we all need reassurance about our health. Many medical consultations consist of the doctor reassuring the patient that they have nothing to worry about. Talking over worries with friends and family can also be very reassuring...
HOWEVER... too much reassurance means
- You become preoccupied with your health
- You no longer believe the reassurance, needing more and more to reduce the worry.
- You look to others to reassure you, when it is more helpful to reassure yourself.
And most importantly, most people who are worried about their health say that reassurance doesn't work. Most of the time it even makes things worse. Also, if you keep on seeing the doctor, you may be sent for more and more tests, which might not be neccessary and may make you more worried.
"How to stop asking for reassurance"
Everytime you feel very worried about your health, try not to ask for help from anyone else. For example do not ask your partner or family about yourself. If you do, ask them to help you by not reassuring you, maybe by changing the subject if you start talking about the state of your health. This may make you feel worried in the short term, so try and find another way of coping with the worry. One very good way is to keep your mind off your worries by doing something else such as going for a walk, cleanig the house, doing a hobby you enjoy, or reading. Find something that works for you so that you can become busy with something else when you are tempted to talk and worry about your health.
Keeping a record of how often you ask for for reassurance my be helpful. (they suggest keeping a chart of how many times you asked for help and then how worried you felt on a scale of 0-10) If you are not given reassurance you will find that you gradually ask for it less often. In other words you are also worrying less often.
***********
I really help this helps, my health anxiety is slowly getting better and I can honestly say doing this helped - I know it won't for everyone but it's a start. I know how easy it is just to ask for reassurance but the more you do the more you keep the anxiety around. You also have to remember if those close to you truely believed you were ill they would take you to the doctors or call an ambulance.
**************
"Learn not to ask for reassurance"
At times we all need reassurance about our health. Many medical consultations consist of the doctor reassuring the patient that they have nothing to worry about. Talking over worries with friends and family can also be very reassuring...
HOWEVER... too much reassurance means
- You become preoccupied with your health
- You no longer believe the reassurance, needing more and more to reduce the worry.
- You look to others to reassure you, when it is more helpful to reassure yourself.
And most importantly, most people who are worried about their health say that reassurance doesn't work. Most of the time it even makes things worse. Also, if you keep on seeing the doctor, you may be sent for more and more tests, which might not be neccessary and may make you more worried.
"How to stop asking for reassurance"
Everytime you feel very worried about your health, try not to ask for help from anyone else. For example do not ask your partner or family about yourself. If you do, ask them to help you by not reassuring you, maybe by changing the subject if you start talking about the state of your health. This may make you feel worried in the short term, so try and find another way of coping with the worry. One very good way is to keep your mind off your worries by doing something else such as going for a walk, cleanig the house, doing a hobby you enjoy, or reading. Find something that works for you so that you can become busy with something else when you are tempted to talk and worry about your health.
Keeping a record of how often you ask for for reassurance my be helpful. (they suggest keeping a chart of how many times you asked for help and then how worried you felt on a scale of 0-10) If you are not given reassurance you will find that you gradually ask for it less often. In other words you are also worrying less often.
***********
I really help this helps, my health anxiety is slowly getting better and I can honestly say doing this helped - I know it won't for everyone but it's a start. I know how easy it is just to ask for reassurance but the more you do the more you keep the anxiety around. You also have to remember if those close to you truely believed you were ill they would take you to the doctors or call an ambulance.