Hi new here - my GP said i have 'health anxiety'

[andrew1994]

would like some opinions if possible, I feel although i am suffering from health anxiety and would like to know if people agree and how common my symptoms are,

I am a male, 19. I first starting worring one year ago, thinking about death making me anxious for a few month this happened but this went away, for a while...

eventually i noticed a mole looked a little darker than i remembered it, so i got it looked at by my gp who said it was fine.

since then i have returned to the GP to show more and more moles, i fear searching it online, there is one mole on my body which is larger than the rest, i have always had it and it changed shape slightly so i showed a gp who said it was fine, but i wasnt satisfied so had to show it to another gp who agreed there was nothing wrong with it. I still fear about it a lot as well as other things like HIV (dont know why) and other types of cancer which really scare me, the mention of cancer makes me feel anxious and puts me off eating, TV ads and campigns seem to be every where!

My symptoms and anxietys seem to reduce completly at night and i feel ok, this has become regular to me now but when i wake up the day after it comes back.

i am going on holiday next week and i have a constant fear of my moles changing or finding something new on my body and i know i cant see my GP over it, which is silly for my age.

my GP has refered me to CBT which i will start when i come back from holiday, im really nervous for this, whats it like?

in the back of mind i keep thinking, maybe my mole has turned bad and my gps have missed it, when i read people saying stuff like this has happened on for example NHS run websites on Health anxiety pages it really make me think, "come on! this isnt helping us with HA"

just wondering what people think, does it sound like HA

I also had bouts of OCD as a child, but went untreated.

thanks everyone :)

[anxityman]

I'm not here to give you a diagnosis only your gp can do that what color is the mole if you don't mind me asking? also i'm having this same issue as you right now I know what you are going through hang in there your gp know what he or she is doing. and stay way from google and the net it will kill you faster then any sickness

[Welshlou]

Hi, we are very similar. I also have been thinking about death over the last year or so and it has made me really anxious. Not the dying part because I am a Christian, but the feeling of not being 'here', if that makes sense? This has led to me obsessing about different diseases and visiting doctor after doctor and specialist afte specialist. All of which have said there is nothing wrng with me! My GP also said I have HA, which I completely agreed with and recommended I see a CBT professional.

Anyway, I've seen her 3 times now and it has been absoutely great. After the first session I told her a lot of things I've never mentioned to anyone and I can't tell you how good it felt. Make sure you pick a counsellor you get on with, but I wouldn't worry about it at all. It is brilliant to talk to someone who understands what you are going through - which is the reason we all post on this forum!

Good luck with it, you are definitely doing the right thing.