worried girl
09-06-13, 11:48
Hello,
I have suffered from health anxiety for a few years now and although I manage to keep it under control most of the time I wish I could kick out my nasty habits and completely forget about it.
My main concern has been bowel cancer in the last few years, no family history, I am not even 30 and have no obvious symptoms so don't know why...
At some point I did feel better as I stopped looking at the paper after wiping for a few months, however I got scared I was missing something and got convinced I was leaving blood stains everywhere I sat. As a result I would then feel the urge to check and would rub paper until I found something suspicious, like marks on paper or on my skin... I then decided to look when I wipe again as I thought maybe this would stop this. Well, it didn't... I never see anything obviously wrong at first so keep on checking till I do, and still have urges during the day.
Do you have any tips on how to exit this vicious circle and how to distract myself when I suddenly feel the urge to check ?
Thank you for any advice.
I have suffered from health anxiety for a few years now and although I manage to keep it under control most of the time I wish I could kick out my nasty habits and completely forget about it.
My main concern has been bowel cancer in the last few years, no family history, I am not even 30 and have no obvious symptoms so don't know why...
At some point I did feel better as I stopped looking at the paper after wiping for a few months, however I got scared I was missing something and got convinced I was leaving blood stains everywhere I sat. As a result I would then feel the urge to check and would rub paper until I found something suspicious, like marks on paper or on my skin... I then decided to look when I wipe again as I thought maybe this would stop this. Well, it didn't... I never see anything obviously wrong at first so keep on checking till I do, and still have urges during the day.
Do you have any tips on how to exit this vicious circle and how to distract myself when I suddenly feel the urge to check ?
Thank you for any advice.