View Full Version : How to overcome obsessive thinking about health
spacebunnyx
16-03-13, 08:23
Hi,
I've read that HA for many people is on the OCD spectrum... and this is true for me. I become obsessed with a "symptom" and can't think of anything else. :weep:
I really want to overcome this but am lost for strategies.
I've had CBT and I've learnt not to google (and I don't.. if I'm worried about a symptom I will only search for it on this website). I'm trying not to seek reassurance from others - I'm OK at this. But I find the constant thinking and worrying a real problem and its getting me down.
So, I was wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom regarding how to stop obsessing? :shrug:
Thank you
Hi, I have suffered with anxiety and panic attacks since I was 9 yrs old. I am now nearly 40. They have come and gone through the good and bad parts of my life but I am now suffering from serious health anxiety. I read your post and it could've been me writing it! If I see anything medical on tv I have it or get it within a few minutes. If someone tells me they feel sick or have a headache then so do I. It is getting unbearable and apart from not watching tv or going out I really don't know what to do. I really feel for you and how you are feeling at the moment, all I can say is that it will get better. That's the thought I'm clinging on to, I have had good times and I believe that they will come back.
Talbot, this is also how I cope. I have had anxiety my whole life but there have been long stretches where it was in the background and didn't really affect my day to day life at all, I like to think of these as periods of remission. All I can do when it's really bad as it has been lately, is repeat to myself 'this too shall pass' and believe that the good times will come again. There are some days when I feel I can't take much more, but I have to hold on to the good times!
if you can focus on the good times you can overcome it takes pratice but you can do it i have:)
spacebunnyx
16-03-13, 19:00
That's true :-) I know that it will pass eventually.. its just I've had a long stretch of anxiety (since new year) where I've been anxious that I'm dying from one illness or another... at one point I even wrote out a will!! There must be something I can do to stop the thinking though (not booze or drugs!!)... I really don't want to have this for the rest of my life - I've had it since I was 12 and I'm 32 now.. too much time wasted.
xxx
I want to share a link with you to an online module that can help with health anxiety, but because I'm new, it won't let me until I've made 10 posts, so I'm just going to post here to get me up to 10 so I can post the link!
---------- Post added at 17:38 ---------- Previous post was at 17:37 ----------
...
---------- Post added at 17:50 ---------- Previous post was at 17:38 ----------
Okay, hopefully I can post the link now, here goes! http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=53
That's true :-) I know that it will pass eventually.. its just I've had a long stretch of anxiety (since new year) where I've been anxious that I'm dying from one illness or another... at one point I even wrote out a will!! There must be something I can do to stop the thinking though (not booze or drugs!!)... I really don't want to have this for the rest of my life - I've had it since I was 12 and I'm 32 now.. too much time wasted.
xxx
Again, That's me too!! New year I had flu which of course was some mega toxic disease which there would be no cure! I got over the flu and ever since it has been non stop one thing after the other. I cannot carry on like this, it's no good at all. I just keep trying to think of the good times and know that they will return. I have just bought an old car to stick in the garage, I am hoping it will give me something else to focus on. It needs lots of work so should keep me occupied. I feel like I have wasted so much of my life and yet I still find it so difficult to get rid of these ridiculous feelings and thoughts! It's not easy and my heart really does go out to anyone suffering like I am at the moment.
---------- Post added at 09:49 ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 ----------
I want to share a link with you to an online module that can help with health anxiety, but because I'm new, it won't let me until I've made 10 posts, so I'm just going to post here to get me up to 10 so I can post the link!
---------- Post added at 17:38 ---------- Previous post was at 17:37 ----------
...
---------- Post added at 17:50 ---------- Previous post was at 17:38 ----------
Okay, hopefully I can post the link now, .
Very good link, thank you
This used to be much more of a problem for me, but thankfully I am starting to find peace in my mind instead of obsessing about health!
I recently read Claire Weekes, book Self Help For Your Nerves which has helped me to learn to accept symptoms instead of fighting against them, it really makes a difference.
I've also been practising meditation and some light yoga daily, as well as lots of other relaxation techniques, and find that my mind is slowly calming and letting go of obsessive worries.
I did try CBT in the past, but this relaxation stuff is really helping me much more than anything else ever has :)
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.