Do you this?

[spacebunnyx]

Hi

I have HA since I was 11 (I'm now 32). I've thought I've had the following:
HIV, brain aneurysm, brain haemorrhage, lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, cardiomyopathy, marfans syndrome, anal cancer(!), bowel cancer, liver cancer, anaphalaxis, ovarian cancer, stomach cancer to name but a few!... and now mouth cancer :-(

one thing I do which I find reassuring is looking at the mortality stats for the UK and seeing the chances of having a particular disease (usually very low). Does any one else do this? or is it just me?!

[cattia]

I have done this before, also when my children were babies I had massive anxiety about SIDS. I would always be looking up statistics to try to reassure myself how rare it actually is, although looking back I'm not sure it really helped as it just kept me focusing on the possibility of it happening. I am the kind of person who always assumes that those statistics will be me, kind of the opposite to the 'it'll never happen to me' attitude that some people have.

[spacebunnyx]

I'm so glad its not just me! I find it strangely reassuring to see the stats.. I look at other illnesses that I'm more likely to die of and that are still relatively "rare" in the UK like HIV and think "why am I worrying about something that only 1 person in my age group died from in that year? When maybe I should be worrying about something else that killed more people like breast cancer etc." Not sure if its a very helpful strategy in the long run, but it reassures me temporarily.

xxx